[6] Before learning women could represent their country in cricket, Clark dreamt of winning Wimbledon and honed her hand-eye coordination by frequently hitting tennis balls against her garage door and a brick wall at Hamilton South Primary School.

[3][8] Clark's development in the sport was helped along by Australian player and fellow Newcastle product, Sally Griffiths, who would drive her to Sydney on weekends to play for Gordon District Cricket Club.

[10] Following Australia's uncharacteristically poor World Cup performance in 1993, a slew of changes were made to the team, including the axing of several senior players and the elevation of Clark to the role of captain.

When exiled batter Denise Annetts publicly claimed she had been dropped from the national team on the basis of her heterosexuality and marital status,[11][12] a furious Clark responded via the media, stating she'd like to "slap her around".

[13] With the addition of coach John Harmer, several young talents, and a revitalised style of attacking play, Clark's team embarked on what would be a golden period of success, notably coming to fruition in early-1997.

Having scored 131 from just 97 balls in a thumping 374-run ODI win against Pakistan on 7 February,[14] she carried on with her own impressive individual form against more formidable opposition a week later during an away Rose Bowl series.

[7][15] Clark helped kickstart Australia's 1997 World Cup campaign with an innings of 93 not out, and an unbeaten 167-run partnership with Joanne Broadbent, to defeat South Africa by ten wickets at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

[20] During the third Test of Australia's 1998 tour of England, Clark recorded her second century in international red ball cricket, scoring a career-best 136 and putting on a 174-run partnership with Karen Rolton.

[24] Clark led Australia through the group stage of the 2000 Cricket World Cup and put on a 170-run partnership with Lisa Keightley in the semi-final to defeat South Africa by nine wickets at Bert Sutcliffe Oval.

[27] She displayed her typically dominant form over the last four matches of the quadrangular 2002–03 World Series of Women's Cricket, managing three half-centuries and a score of 49, culminating in an innings of 80 against New Zealand in the final which Australia comfortably won by 109 runs.

[28][29] A week later, in the first Test of the 2002–03 Women's Ashes at the Gabba, Clark scored a match-high 47 in the fourth innings to steer her team to a trophy-retaining five-wicket victory, capping off a see-sawing contest wherein Australia recovered from being bowled out for 78 on the second day of play.

[6] She cites various tennis players, such as John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova, as her first sporting heroes before idolising Australian cricketers from the 1970s, including Kim Hughes and Greg Chappell.