Sydney, Oct 19 : Australia captain Michael Clarke, who will have a major say in deciding the national team's next coach, has said that the global search for a coach won't distract him from the task of beating South Africa.

Clarke will have a major say in who is appointed as Tim Nielsen's permanent replacement following an exhaustive international search by Cricket Australia and its new Cricket Manager Pat Howard.

He will liaise with CA chief executive James Sutherland and Howard over developments, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"I'll be concentrating on scoring runs and helping Australia win games ... and at the right time, I'll continue to communicate with James Sutherland and obviously Pat Howard to go through the process and speak about a few of the coaches that apply," Clarke said.

"My focus is on ... having some success over here personally and as a team and then when I get some spare time or when the time is right, I can then communicate with James and Pat. They've been fantastic, our communication is always quite strong," he added.

Steve Rixon is believed to be the frontrunner for the fulltime coaching position, while former South African coach and current WA mentor Mickey Arthur is also in the race. (ANI)