FORMER Australian cricket captain Ian Chappell is concerned that Hampshire star Michael Clarke is playing too much one-day cricket.

The man who skippered his country back in the 1970s is viewed as being one of the most perceptive of all television commentators Down Under.

And when asked to give an appraisal of Clarke's batting, Chappell was typically forthright.

"Michael has lots of potential but he needs to play a lot more first class cricket, and score more runs in those matches," Chappell told the Daily Echo.

"He has never managed to string a series of scores together in first class cricket so far, and it worries me that he is playing so much one-day cricket.

And Chappell added: "He has got into the habit of hitting balls in the air and trying to clear the infield.

"He can get away with it in one-day cricket but not in Test matches."

Clarke, 23, is widely regarded as the top young player in Australia and his reputation was further enhanced with a maiden one-day international hundred against a below-strength Zimbabwe in Harare at the end of May.

But playing for New South Wales during the winter, his form could not have been much worse. In the four-day Pura Cup he managed just 74 runs from two matches at an average of 18.50.

In the one-day ING Cup it was a similar story, Clarke finishing with the dismal average of 14.66 from three matches.

His form for Hampshire this summer has not been much better. He has struggled to come to terms with county pitches and averages just 22.57 from eight county championship matches.

He struck 75 off 86 balls in his debut innings in the first-class game against Durham, but followed that up with a nought in the second innings and another duck in the next match with Leicestershire.

In 14 innings he has only scored two half-centuries - the other was 69 in the first innings at Essex.

In comparison, he is Hampshire's top scorer in the one-day league with 220 runs at 44.00.

In today's Daily Echo, Australian batsman Justin Langer predicts that Clarke will stop "trying too hard" and become a match winner for Hampshire in the second half of the season.

If his one-day international performances for Australia are anything to go by, then Langer could be proved right.

Sections of the Australian media have already branded Clarke as 'the new Ricky Ponting'.

But Chappell remains more cautious.

"State cricket in Australia is still a strong competition despite the absence of the Test players for most of the season," he said.

"Michael Clarke could bat at number four in Test cricket, in a few years, but no higher than that.

"When Aravinda De Silva first played for Sri Lanka he used to hit the ball in the air a lot.

"In attempting to clear the infield, he was caught out on many occasions.

"But when he stopped doing that, he became a much better player. Clarke should follow Aravinda's example."