Australia captain Michael Clarke says there's not much difference between the starting 11 and the rest of the squad

CRICKET fans who don't like the rotation policy have been told to accept that the gap between the best players and the rest is not the same as it was.

FRUSTRATED Australian cricket fans who can't accept the controversial rotation policy have been told they must accept the gap between the best players and the rest is nothing like it was in a golden previous era.

Skipper Michael Clarke understands Australian cricket is on the nose with the public because of the constant shuffling of players but insisted there was not much skill gap between the top 16 players in the country.

While greats like Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne would play if they were far less than fit, Clarke insisted there was no point risking a player these days when the fringe players were almost just as good.

"The issue with where the Australian team is now, compared to where it was 10 years ago, is that 10 years ago you had four or five or six or seven great players in one team," Clarke said.

"If they were 80 percent fit, they were still good enough to win a game for Australia.

"Where we sit now as a team is, it is a lot different to that. The gap between the 11 players that take the field and the 12th-16th player is quite close.

"So if you are not 100 percent fit to perform at your best, it is not worth the risk to the team for you to take the field and let the team down.

"If somebody is not 100 percent fit to play their role then they don't make the best XI no matter what their name is and no matter what their reputation is. Our team is a lot different now to what it was 10 years ago."

Clarke and fellow Aussie A-graders Dave Warner and Matthew Wade return to the side for the ODI against Sri Lanka in Brisbane tonight but it may be too late to generate interest in a series which has little care-factor for fans.

Past greats Brett Lee and Warne have led criticism of selection policies which have seen slammed for providing cheap Australian caps and resting players even with the slightest whiff of an injury niggle.

There has also been a communication breakdown and it was only earlier this week that coach Mickey Arthur revealed paceman Mitchell Starc had missed the Boxing Day Test because of bone spurs on his ankle.

"We have probably seen some cases where guys have not been 100 percent fit or had little niggles that probably have not been communicated as well as they need to be to the media - in essence to the public," Clarke said.

"We have always tried to be as open and honest as we can be - but there is protection of the player issue in terms of not giving the opposition team too much information.

"We are trying to look after the player and the team .. and we are trying to give the Australian public as much information as we possibly can.

"The public wants to see Australia win games of cricket. We are going to try on every single occasion to get our best XI - the guys that are fully fit - onto the park and I hope the public understands that.

"The Australian way is that everybody is entitled to their opinion and I love that about this country. We as a selection panel, there are times we are going to have to cop criticism.

I just want the public and the media to understand we are trying to do the best thing for Australian cricket - for this game today, and also in regards to what we have coming up in the next 12 months."