Michael Clarke prepares for deputy duty

Michael Clarke's path to the Test captaincy continues on Friday with the 27-year-old taking the field for the first time as Ricky Ponting's deputy.

After missing the opening Test against the West Indies to remain by the side of fiancee Lara Bingle following the death of her father, Clarke - who captained Australia's Twenty20 team during the summer - will officially begin his term as Test vice-captain in the second match in Antigua, with the man nicknamed "Pup" bounding about with enthusiasm.

"There's no doubt that he is jumping out of his skin," said Ponting.

"He did what he had to do back in Australia and obviously it's been a tough time for Lara and her family.

"I spoke to him a fair bit while he was at home and every second word was 'I'm missing the boys' and 'I can't wait to get over there'.

"He really loves playing cricket for Australia and with a bit more responsibility now and a leadership role in the group he is blossoming every day.

"Since he's been here we have had a couple of leadership meetings which he has been a part of and he's really enjoying it.

"He works hard on his game, and having him back in the side as an experienced player and vice-captain will be great for us in this next Test."

Ponting, too, is gearing up for a big Test with the skipper only 61 runs short of becoming the seventh player to reach 10,000 runs.

He looked set to reach the milestone in the opening Test after a magnificent 158 in the first innings, but scored only five in the second.

That failure cost him the chance to join Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar as the quickest batsmen to 10,000, with the West Indian and Indian run machines reaching the mark in 195 innings.

Not that Ponting was all that concerned.

"I wasn't really aware (he was so close to 10,000) until (media manager) Lachy Patterson told me about that after I was dismissed in the first innings the other day," Ponting said.

"All I had on my mind going into the second innings was getting 66. If Lachy hadn't of told me, I would have had no idea whatsoever.

"It will be a great milestone if I eventually get there, hopefully it's in this game."