Michael Clarke's back and runs are flowing again A sight to gladden the hearts of those hoping for an Ashes reversal... captain Michael Clarke plays a pull shot for four in the Shield match at Blacktown yesterday. Former Australia Test captain Mark Taylor says young batsmen Usman Khawaja and Phil Hughes have had more than enough chances and selectors must start blooding new talent. MICHAEL Clarke might have missed out on a century, but he did not miss a beat on his return to cricket yesterday. The Australia captain's fortunes have had selectors and fans in a state of anxiety as he sat out the Indian one-day tour amid rumours his degenerative back injury could cut short his Ashes contribution and his career. Clarke, however, showed no signs of discomfort as he batted for four hours and scored 88 runs in NSW's opening Sheffield Shield match of the season against Tasmania at Blacktown. He said he was a "bit rusty" but he looked good at the crease and ran well between the wickets. "It was nice to make a few runs," he said. I was disappointed with my shot (to get out) and to get a start I guess and throw it away is disappointing, but it was nice to spend time out in the middle. I certainly needed it and there was a bit of rust there that's for sure but nice to contribute. I felt completely fine. I was certainly a little bit rusty and I think my legs will certainly be a little bit heavy tomorrow but it's a nice feeling to spend so much time in the middle. Clarke, who has been batting in the nets and doing fitness work at the SCG for three weeks, but had not batted in a match since mid-September, had no concerns about the injury flaring up. "I know my body pretty well and I certainly wouldn't have taken the park if I didn't think I was fit to be able to play the way I played today," he said. I've had this back issue my whole career so I certainly know the signs that come with it and I felt confident going into today that my body was ready to go. To me there's no better training than playing a game and, like I've said a few times, this is not about preparation for me - this is about trying to help NSW start the season well. David Warner (21) did not go as well, falling caught-and-bowled to a short ball from Ben Hilfenhaus after seeing out a difficult first hour of play. Steve Smith's 44 from 47 balls was a cameo that spoke of the confidence and emerging class of a batsman who looks to have established himself as a core Test player. Tasmania's Sam Rainbird got the second breakthrough of the day to bring Clarke to the crease. Playing just his second Shield game, the 21-year-old snared Nic Maddinson (15) and finished the day with 5-57 from 20 overs. The left-arm seamer got the prize scalp of the day when he had Clarke out caught behind just after tea. Rainbird played one Shield game and the Chairman's XI last year before missing the rest of the first-class season with a back injury. The bowler was delighted to get five wickets - especially when one was the captain. "I've watched him a lot when I was growing up," he said. It's great. I was pretty nervous but once I got my first one out of the way, it was good. He is very hard to bowl to, he's hitting the ball well so I was a bit intimidated. Clarke praised the young bowler's approach but blamed himself for getting out. 'He's a good young bowler; he bowled well," the captain said. The ball started to reverse swing, he bowled around the wicket to the right-handers and moved it away, so I thought all the Tassie bowlers bowled well in those conditions. It was probably a poor shot, to be honest. It probably wasn't there to try and play a late cut, but credit to the bowling. I think the bowling all day was pretty disciplined, they didn't really give us much to hit, so credit to Tassie, they bowled really well and bowled to the conditions and bowled full and straight and made it tough for us to score. NSW finished the day at 8-275 but Clarke believes the Blues could have done better. "We're obviously a few wickets too many, we would have liked to have been four of five down at this stage, but on that wicket I think if we can get somewhere close between 330 and 350, I'd think we've done pretty well," he said. The wicket's quite slow and it's pretty hard to score when the Tassie guys bowl in the right areas, so I think not a bad start from us, but we've still got some work to do.