Australia captain Michael Clarke bids farewell to one-day international cricket on Sunday — to save himself for one more shot at humiliating England . The 33-year-old has decided to retire from the 50-over game after steering his country to the World Cup final , with the sole intention of leading the Aussies into this summer ’ s Ashes showdown in England . ‘ A priority for me is to continue to be successful in the Test format , ’ said Clarke . ‘ I think by walking away from one-day cricket it probably gives me my best opportunity. ’ Michael Clarke shakes hands with New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum ahead of Sunday 's final . And that spells danger for England with Clarke hungrier than ever to finally win an away Ashes series , having lost on all three of his previous trips . Clarke scored two centuries guiding Australia to their 5-0 whitewash of Alastair Cook ’ s dismal team last winter , but he ’ s desperate to break his duck in England in what will almost certainly be his last Ashes away tour . ‘ I ’ ve never hid behind the fact that I find Test cricket to be the pinnacle of our sport , ’ said Clarke , who has won 108 Test caps including 30 against England . The 33-year-old made the surprise announcement at a press conference on Saturday morning . ‘ I ’ ve never gone down that road anyway in regard to what is the best thing to do for the public interest , as I ’ m sure you would have seen through my career , I ’ ve copped my fair share of smacks in the mouth . ‘ But I am whoI am and it ’ s about being true to myself and I don ’ t feel bad about saying I believe Test cricket is the toughest part of our game . I love that challenge , I find it extremely difficult every Test match I play . I do see it as the pinnacle . I still think I ’ ve got a lot to offer the team as captain of the Australian Test team , and I want to make sure I continue to have success in that format. ’ Clarke was made captain in all formats when Ricky Ponting stood down following the 2011 World Cup . He will be making his 245th one-day appearance for Australia and his 75th as skipper on Sunday as Australia take on New Zealand , led by Brendon McCullum ( inset ) . George Bailey and Steve Smith are thought to be the two men most likely to succeed Clarke in captaining the Aussies . Clarke made his ODI debut 12 years ago and has scored almost 8,000 runs for his country . Clarke , who will continue to play at Test level , is pictured playing a shit in the nets ahead of Sunday 's match . Clarke , pictured with team-mate Shane Watson , will lead Australia against England in the Ashes later this year . Clarke has been suffering with a back problem for some time and a hamstring injury ruled him out of Australia ’ s World Cup build up with George Bailey and Steve Smith , the two men most likely to succeed him , both leading the side . ‘ I don ’ t think it is realistic that I ’ ll be fit and healthy and available to play the next World Cup so I believe it is the right time , ’ he said . ‘ I think I ’ ll leave the one-day game for the Australian team in a better place than when I took over the captaincy . ’
Cricket World Cup final will be Michael Clarke 's last one-day international . The 33-year-old Australian has decided to retire from the 50-over game . Clarke intends to lead the Aussies into this summer ’ s Ashes showdown . He is desperate to win in New Zealand in what will be his last Ashes away tour .