Michael Clarke denies dearth of leadership in Australian Test team Australian captain Michael Clarke says Australia 'has the stock' when it comes to leaders. MICHAEL Clarke insists Australian cricket is not gripped by a leadership crisis, with the injured skipper believing there are viable options to eventually succeed him in the post. Clarke's back injury in Australia's third Test loss, which could rule him out of the fourth Test starting Friday, has spotlighted a perceived dearth of captaincy options in the post-Ricky Ponting era. After deputy Shane Watson was suspended for one match for failing to take part in a performance review, the Australians declined to name an official vice-captain for the third Test. The lack of leadership options was then exposed on Sunday when Clarke left the field for treatment. The running of the team was left to Brad Haddin, 35, who has been out of Test cricket for 14 months and only joined the touring party last week following Matt Wade's ankle injury. At 31, Watson is just two months younger than Clarke, so grooming him for the top job is not feasible. It is some comfort that Clarke could remain in the post for another five years, although a degenerative back condition could end his career sooner than he or Cricket Australia would hope. Clarke revealed a succession plan is already in place. "There's people in this group who could certainly do it," he said. We have leaders in this group that you'll see more of over hopefully the next week, six weeks, six months, six years. There's capable guys in this team who could captain Australia, no doubt about it. And there's certainly young players around the country who could come in and be vice-captain and captain of Australia. So I think we've got the stock. It's about continuing to allow these guys to know they don't need a 'c' or a 'vc' beside their name to be a leader in the group. The expectation is that they do stand up and be one of the leaders in the group. Gloveman Wade and Ed Cowan have been touted as future Test leaders, but the opener is 30 and history shows wicketkeepers have enough on their plate without the added pressures of captaincy. Opener David Warner has been identified internally, although his tactical nous is unproven and he suffered a black mark at age 20 when he was kicked out of the Centre of Excellence for disciplinary reasons. Steve Smith, recalled for the third Test in Mohali, has domestic captaincy experience. He led the Sydney Sixers in the inaugural Big Bash competition, but the 23-year-old is not even close to cementing a spot in the Test side. The likes of Phil Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon appear unlikely candidates. Moises Henriques, at 26, is articulate and experienced but not a team regular, while pace spearhead James Pattinson has leadership potential but remains raw at 22. Clarke declined to nominate specific candidates but insists the leadership issue is not ringing alarm balls. "I don't think it's fair for me to put that pressure and expectation on those players publicly," Clarke said. They know who they are. The whole team knows. I've spoken individually and collectively to the team about the importance of every single one of us becoming more of a leader, feeling like you are the captain of this team and you are responsible for what happens in this group. Where they sit in the team, there's individual players there who know they have an opportunity to captain Australia.