COVERED WINTER 2019

19 @TRENTBRIDGE “I SET MYSELF VERY HIGH STANDARDS AND THAT WAS THE WORST SEASON I’VE HAD IN MY PROFESSIONAL CAREER.” Joe Clarke “WE’RE NOT WHERE WE WANT TO BE. WE WANT TO BE IN DIVISION ONE.” Joe Clarke Joe Clarke is a ‘serious cricketer’. Plucked from the vast portfolio of borderline ungrammatical, Australian cricketisms that now perennially frequent the social circles of the game, it was a phrase trotted out by the many, not the few, when this England Lion signed for Notts last winter. Clarke, after all, is a serious enough player to have amassed over 7,700 senior runs and 21 centuries prior to his 24th birthday. He’s serious enough to have been selected 28 times by the Lions and, indeed, amply serious to have flayed a Notts attack featuring Broad, Gurney and Fletcher for an unbeaten 177 during hisWorcestershire days. Presenting himself for this interview on the back of a punishing session at the gym, despite being within the first fortnight of post season, Clarke’s not messing around from a fitness perspective either. And yet – match hauls of 209 & 237 that bookended the Championship season, and flashes of white-ball brilliance, aside – Clarke is currently en- countering unchartered waters for his career as a professional. For the first time, he’s coming to terms with failure. “I set myself very high standards and that was the worst season I’ve had in my professional career,” he reflects. “My goal was to be in the top couple of run-scorers in the division, and that didn’t happen. “I’m reflecting on what went right and wrong and what I could have done better on and off the field.” Sadly, for Clarke, many of his teammates have endured similarly dysfunctional campaigns. The result has been relegation and – for a club like Nottinghamshire – it’s hitting home just what that means. “It feels like a lot of us – myself, the other new signings and the senior pros – have all had the worst seasons of our career at the same time. It’s cost us our place in Division One,” he admits, with a rueful shake of the head. From school rugby as a diminutive scrum-half, to age group cricket and winning the Blast withWorcestershire, Clarke’s been winning his whole life. Make no mistake, this hurts. “It’s hit home to a lot of the lads what it means at this Club when you go down,” he says. “It will make us tighter as a unit though and the beautiful thing is you get another go. “We’re not where we want to be.We want to be in Division One. But you do get another go and if we start winning games next year, everyone will be flying high.” For Clarke, more than for anyone else in the squad, the 2019 red-ball season ended on a note of optimism. The right-hander’s back-to-back centuries againstWarwickshire not only JOE CLARKE