Everything seemed set in place for him to hit the winning runs and bring up his century in one fell swoop, but a full-toss ball away by his batting partner to seal the victory denied him the chance to raise the bat. The 35-year-old led his side in typical fashion, placing handy field changes to dismiss Mosman for a lowly total of 141, cricket.com.au reported. 

Clarke faced a barrage of sledging from Mosman supporters who were heard yelling “get ready for a broken f***ing arm”, in reference to his famous assault on England’s Jimmy Anderson in the 2013-14 Ashes series. Clarke left his traditional spot at number five and pushed himself up to open the innings for Western Suburbs — but it wasn’t the pace that him flustered. He narrowly avoided being stumped after the Mosman keeper fumbled a take from their left-arm orthodox bowler in the first ball after drinks.