Clarke to Miss First Game Against England

Melbourne: Australia captain Michael Clarke was Thursday ruled out of his country's World Cup opener against old rivals England after battling to shake off fully his hamstring problems.

Coach Darren Lehmann confirmed that Clarke would not play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday but should feature in Australia's second game against Bangladesh in Brisbane on February 21.

"He's not playing Saturday," said Lehmann. "We're really happy with his progress. We're going to stick with the plan and he's going to play against Bangladesh."

Clarke, 33, top scored with 64 opening the batting in Wednesday's 188-run warm-up win over the United Arab Emirates in Melbourne where he also bowled two overs.

He was captaining Australia for the first time since his hamstring surgery almost two months ago.

Earlier this week, Clarke had rebuffed fears he would not be able to play all the games due to a heavy travel schedule including trips to Brisbane, Auckland and Perth.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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