Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has reportedly invited Nepali young leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane to train in his academy – the Michael Clarke Cricket Academy (MCCA) – in Sydney, Australia.
“Clarke has invited me to play in his Academy, I have proposed September,” the 16-year-old spinner told Kantipur daily. “It’s a big opportunity for me to play in MCCA; it would be very good experience and I will learn a lot.”
Clarke was impressed with Sandeep – who was reported as Nepali Share Warne after his bowling in the U19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh – while captaining Kowloon Cantons in the HK T20 Blitz last week. Sandeep played under his captaincy.
During the tournament, Sandeep developed a good rapport with World Cup winning Clarke which was evident in their conversation on Twitter. Clarke called Sandeep ‘little champion’ and said that he would see him soon.
I will see you very soon buddy https://t.co/ut15bvE8Lr
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) May 30, 2016
According to Sandeep, Clarke praised his game and infused a hope that he could be playing in the Big Bash – the Australian T20 championship. “Clarke said if I continue playing well, I could be playing Big Bash and I am very excited about that,” Sandeep told Kantipur.
Sandeep said that he learned a lot from the Australian legend in Hong Kong. “I could play with Clarke – I can’t explain in words the experience of sharing dressing room with Clarke,” he said. “He also taught me on bowl technique, follow through and bowling action.”
MCCA runs 5-day cricket training camps every year with one-to-one coaching by Michael Clarke and his team. This year two camps are planned first from September 26-30 and second, October 3-7.
Clarke, 36, is considered one of the best batsmen of cricket having captained Australia after Ricky Ponting and leading the team to the No. 1 Test ranking and a World Cup title. A chronic back injury caused him retire early.
How am I going to get this batter out.. Haha https://t.co/YSDhi63uoj
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) June 1, 2016