The need for less speed

Part of Michael Clarke's off-season was spent as a grey nomad, joining Andrew Symonds in week-long campervan trip between Sydney and Brisbane. Like the retirees who hold up traffic putting along at a dozey pace, Clarke insists they drove the hired Winnebago in a relaxed manner. Holidays can change approaches because nothing the pair does on the field is less than full speed. It is their allure and often their undoing.

Even at a pre-season practice Clarke scampers to collect balls that have been thumped out of the net like the pup he's been nicknamed after. During a session with Glenn McGrath in Brisbane the Australian team's old and still new enjoyed banter similar to that heard in thousands of backyards each summer. Imaginary fields were set precisely, mini-arguments ensued over modes of dismissals and runs were given away like opportunities to overtake caravans on a single-lane road.

The Ashes were four months away and still Clarke sprinted from cover back to the bowler's end to run-out McGrath as he chased a make believe three. Pools of cheerful emotion are ready to spray as a cheeky giggle, throaty laugh or act of mock disgust among those he knows well.

In off-field public appearances Clarke, 25, tempers his teenage enthusiasm and is noticeably considered and watchful. It is a method he is trying to adapt to the early stages of his innings as he manufactures a long-term plan for sustained international success. He was working with the national assistant coach Jamie Siddons in Brisbane on playing in front of his pads to perfect a straighter bat at impact. "It takes out a lot of risk," he says. "The risk of getting an edge or being lbw playing across the line." Or the difference between double figures and a century, or runs in empty Pura Cup grounds instead of packed international stadiums.

The alterations, the "tightening of his technique", were forced by his Test sacking during the West Indies series last year. Clarke doesn't want to change the way he bats, but he knows he must adapt to avoid the problems that limited him to two fifties following his glorious entry of 541 runs in five matches. The total was barely doubled in the next 17 appearances. "I still want to be aggressive and do things at 100 miles per hour, like I do most things," he says. "But I have to take more time to get in." He mentions reducing risks again.

Clarke agrees his tinkering is like a golfer remodelling his swing with the brief of long-term fluency over short-term recovery. "I want to make sure I'm successful for ten years, not just six months," he says. A reliable technique, strong preparation and a healthy body - yoga, swimming and core-stability exercises have improved his susceptible back - are needed to support his aim.

Currently a place in Australia's Test team for this summer is more hope than certainty. There is a line of candidates and Clarke is merely a contender after failing to produce something memorable on his two-Test return in Bangladesh. Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson and Phil Jaques appear to be racing with Clarke for two Ashes berths.

Despite being the incumbent No. 6, he feels the pressure and will use the two one-day series in Malaysia and India to secure a spot for the Gabba on November 23. "I hope the selectors find room for me," he says. "I just have to do everything in my power to get a spot and if they give me an opportunity I have to take it."

Previous missed chances led to the first serious fall of his career and he believes a greater understanding of his method will prevent future slips. His pre-match preparation was poor last year as he struggled to adjust his training between one-day and Test modes. He also wishes he fought harder to get an etching on the Lord's honourboard instead of falling for 91 trying to out-muscle England's containing tactics, although he doesn't believe a century would have changed the course of his personal history.

"I had the opportunity to get a big score," he says. "I was confident after Lord's and got starts in every innings." A half-century at Trent Bridge was the next highest mark; being upended by Steve Harmison's slower ball at Edgbaston and shouldering arms to a Simon Jones inswinger at Old Trafford that he felt was going as straight as the ball a few deliveries earlier were the more painful and lasting memories.

"In that series the attack was the hardest I have faced," he says. "It was like starting your innings all the way through. Australia's attack is the best when fit, but England's is the best of the opposition." For the Ashes re-match he doesn't want either side to have any excuses for spluttering. "I'd love for them all to be fit and healthy and for me to be playing the first Test," he says. Andrew Flintoff, Jones and Harmison would undoubtedly agree given the combination of their current injuries and a desire to challenge Clarke's adherence to a more patient regime.

The off-season has been rigorous with pool and cardio sessions, net batting and video analysis with Neil D'Costa, his coach of 18 years, and an eventful month off. After dropping the van in Brisbane the duo went on to north Queensland where Clarke managed to sit still while fishing ("I caught my first barramundi, it was fantastic") and hunted wild pigs ("We didn't get any").

While the grey nomad motoring was more laidback, there were early problems with directions until the pair decided Clarke was more suited to being at the wheel and Symonds would read the map. "He was an awful navigator," Symonds says bluntly. A clearer pathway has been formed for Clarke's batting, but how he balances his revised approach with his exuberant natural outlook will determine his direction this summer.