Clarke Surprised By Birthday Attention

New Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke expressed surprise - with a hint of disappointment - that his 30th birthday celebration received newspaper and TV coverage.

It only took four days for Clarke to receive confirmation that he faces public scrutiny of a kind his predecessor Ricky Ponting seldom did.

If anyone in cricket knows what it's like to have their private lives made public it's Clarke, after his relationship with ex-fiancee Lara Bingle became media fodder.

But the new skipper said he was perplexed as to why a rare birthday celebration on home soil with family and close friends on Friday night would be in the public interest.

"I probably laughed a bit like everyone else to be honest, I certainly didn't expect something like that to make the paper, but it did and that's the way it is I guess," said Clarke before flying out with his team for the Bangladesh tour.

"My focus is here, my focus is on getting to Bangladesh and playing some good cricket and I think the public's focus is pretty similar.

"I don't think they want to read about what I do on my birthday."

While Ponting knew all about unrelenting attention during his captaincy reign, it was almost all related to his on-field ups and downs as captain.

It's hard to imagine camera crews would ever be out waiting to capture Ponting's birthday night out.

While he sounded disappointed with the weekend media coverage of a private occasion, Clarke accepted that a high media profile was part of his job.

Several times he referred to his responsibilities off the field and said he was ready to embrace the challenge.

"I do obviously understand what comes with being the captain of Australia, what responsibilities you have, obviously as I've seen lately on and off the field," he said.

"I've really enjoyed being vice captain for a few years. I think that was a great experience for me. It showed me a lot of what goes on off the field as a leader in the Australian cricket team and how much it's not just about what you do on the field."

Clarke also noted somewhat wistfully that Ponting was probably enjoying dropping out of the spotlight to become just a regular team member on the Bangladesh tour.

"He (Ponting) is probably stoked I'm here doing the press, he doesn't have to do it anymore," he said.