Clarke vows to regain place in Australia team

SYDNEY, Nov 17 (Reuters) Michael Clarke has vowed to fight his way back into the Australian team after being left out of the squad for the first Ashes test against England next week.

The 25-year-old said he was not surprised at being omitted after the selectors opted for all rounder Shane Watson as a counter to England's Andrew Flintoff.

''The type of person I am I expected not to be picked, so it wasn't too much of a surprise -- a couple of sleepless nights waiting to find out,'' he told reporters today.

Clarke, regarded as Australia's brightest new hope since scoring a century on his test debut against India two years ago, said he had spoken to the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch about what he needed to do to play test cricket.

''Andrew was fantastic, very supportive, says I've been playing great one-day cricket,'' Clarke said.

''The fact of the matter is that I need to keep scoring runs no matter what form of the game I'm playing and make the most of every opportunity that I get to spend in the middle.'' The first test starts in Brisbane on November 23.

Reuters PM DB1304