It made an almighty splash when it landed on shelves and you can barely walk past a book shop without seeing a promotional poster of it, but Michael Clarke's autobiography hasn't made the same impact when it comes to sales. Clarke pulled no punches in the book, and it's an indisputably compelling read. Compared to Ricky Ponting's autobiography of three years ago, or previous Australian captain Steve Waugh before that, though, sales have been modest. Clarke's My Story, published by Macmillan Australia, had shifted a little more than 13,000 copies since its release on October 26 in figures provided to The Tonk on Thursday. Of course, the peak Christmas buying period is still to come but it would want to get a hurry along if it's going to hold a candle to Ponting's At the Close of Play, which hit the 100,000 mark in its first few months on sale at the end of 2013. Clarke, who is believed to have been paid an advance of close to $1 million, hasn't been helped by a crowded market for cricket and sports books already this summer, with releases from Mitchell Johnson, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, Jim Maxwell, Dennis Lillee and Brad Hogg among others. (Johnson's autobiography Resilient, by the way, has sold about 5700 copies, while Lillee's has done essentially its entire print run of about 4800). The industry has also changed dramatically in recent years with stores closing down and readers turning to Kindle but for a recently retired former Test captain, Clarke's numbers are underwhelming.
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Prolific Perry
While we're talking numbers, there are few who can boast better than Ellyse Perry. The Southern Stars all-rounder's one-day international average since her shift up to the top five in the batting line-up is now at a staggering 92.53 after her player-of-the-series performance against South Africa, which wound up in Coffs Harbour this week. It's no small sample size either – she's been in the top five now, mostly at four, for 25 innings dating back to the tail end of Australia's tour of England in 2013 and scored 1388 runs. Perry, 26, made 334 runs between dismissals across the Stars' series in Sri Lanka and at home against South Africa – the men's record is 405 set by Mohammad Yousuf in a series against Zimbabwe in 2003-04 – but remains typically humble, crediting coaches. "Mixed in is a bit of luck," she said this week. "Every cricketer needs luck at different points in time."
Not-so-fast finish
This column is hearing James Faulkner wasn't the most popular person with the NSW dressing room after this week's shield game. Both sides can agree to end a game early from tea on the last day if there's no prospect of a result but Faulkner chose to play on in pursuit of a maiden shield century. Given his reputation as the finisher in Australia's one-day side, we can only surmise the pressure of the moment weighed heavily on Faulkner, who took 29 balls to get out of the 90s despite the Blues having the field up. Play was eventually called off once Faulkner reached three figures but not before NSW captain Moises Henriques injured his side, slamming the ball into the ground before storming off. Henriques may still play as a specialist batsman in the next round of the shield but cannot bowl.
Stumper's revenge?
There will be a lot of talk with the Australia-Pakistan Test series coming up about Mickey Arthur taking on the team from which he was sacked as head coach. But an equally intriguing narrative is around Pakistan's fielding coach, Steve Rixon. The former Test 'keeper and Australian assistant coach was overlooked for the head coach's job when it was given to Arthur in 2011 and we're reliably informed doesn't have a great deal of time for some senior figures in Australian cricket, the team performance manager Pat Howard among them. An old-school type who was very close with Michael Clarke and highly respected by others of that generation, Rixon had bid to be the next man in line after Tim Nielsen departed the post – which makes it interesting that Arthur then went on to hire him on his Pakistan staff – and will be eager to have some hand in a series upset against his former employer.
Cotton wool SOK
You can all but mark down Stephen O'Keefe for a ticket to India despite his recent calf injury. The left-arm spinner appears set to miss the next round of the shield but that should not be read as a blow to his Test chances – quite the opposite. The Tonk has been told Cricket Australia have demanded the Blues not pick O'Keefe to give him extra time to recover from a slight calf strain or risk their wrath if he plays and breaks down. With a Test to come on the spin-friendly SCG and a tour of India to follow, there's plenty of chances yet for O'Keefe to add to his three appearances in the baggy green.
