Michael John Clarke (born 2 April 1981 in Liverpool, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer and vice captain of the national team. Nicknamed 'Pup', 'Nemo' or 'Clarkey', he is a right-handed batsman, highly-regarded fielder and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler.He is currently engaged to Australian model Lara Bingle. He made his debut for New South Wales as an eighteen year old in the 1999-2000 Australian domestic season and was chosen to make his Test debut against India at Bangalore, October 2004, despite having a first-class average below 40. He succeeded on debut, scoring 151 and consequently helping Australia to victory, invoking comparisons to past Australian batsmen such as Doug Walters and Mark Waugh.