Marcus North has quashed suggestions he may be in line to be Australia's next Test captain, saying such newspaper stories were "scraping the barrel".

Following Australia's humiliating one-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in Wednesday's one-day international at the MCG, reports have emerged there are deep divisions in the Australian team over Michael Clarke being groomed as Ricky Ponting's successor.

Clarke's captaincy of the Twenty20 and one-day sides in Ponting's absence has been called into question recently amid a disappointing run of results.

But, according to the reports, there are deeper divisions in the Australian camp that have existed for years, some of these coming to light after Clarke questioned Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger's participation in the Champions League Twenty20 competition, in the days prior to the recent first Test against India in Mohali.

North, however, emphatically quashed these suggestions

"What I've woken up and read this morning is completely unfounded," he said on Thursday. "I've never seen it.

"I must be playing in another cricket team if that's a fact.

"Yesterday the feeling in the media is who can replace North and then the next minute I'm being touted as Australian captain.

"In an Ashes summer you can expect a bit of hype and a few stories but I think we're scraping the barrel there a bit."

Asked whether he would be interested in the captaincy, North said: "Obviously Ricky's here to stay for a number of years yet and Michael Clarke's been the one that's being groomed as the next captain.

"When he (Clarke) has taken over from Ricky he's been very, very good at leading the side, it's something that certainly doesn't enter my thinking at all.

"It's a bit of humour to me. It's just another story, it will be forgotten about tomorrow."

Instead, North said he was concentrating on leading Western Australia in Friday's three-day tour game against England, saying the Warriors were intent on hitting an early blow against the travelling side.

North, though, said he was never in two minds about playing this game and exposing himself to England's bowlers ahead of the Ashes starting in Brisbane on November 25.

"I never hesitated at all," said North.

"When Western Australia gets an opportunity to play a touring side, it's something that we always honour and look forward to as state players.

"It just gives me a great opportunity to keep playing another first-class game against a quality opposition.

"If I'm worried about (whether) they're going to come hard at me, well they're going to come hard in the first Test so I expect nothing different come tomorrow."

Batsman Shaun Marsh will miss the rest of the Commonwealth Bank series against Sri Lanka after suffering a lower back injury during the loss on Wednesday night.

South Australian Callum Ferguson will replace Marsh in the squad for the remaining two games of the series in Sydney and Brisbane.