Clarke confident of good show in Ashes
After their humiliating defeat in India, Michael Clarke would be hoping for a good performance in England. Australia begin their Ashes campaign on July 10 at Trent Bridge.
Australia have picked a pretty good squad for the Ashes Series in England. They will be heavily reliant on David Warner and Ed Cowan to provide a good start with the bat, which will be capitalized by the middle order batsmen. The middle order doesn’t look steady as the same side struggled in India. So, Clarke has a significant task on hand as he is the only recognised batsman in the middle order for Australia apart from Chris Rogers, who brings in the much needed experience.
Michael Clarke has also accepted that the batting will be a problem for Australia in the Ashes. But he told his batsmen to give their best, so that the bowling attack becomes meaningful. Australia have lost the ODI series 0-4 in 2012 because of average batting performance. But Clarke is looking to turn things around this time.
“We’ve got a good attack, there’s no doubt about it. The squad of quicks we have is a really good combination. They gel well together, they’re all a little bit different,” Clarke said. “But there’s the other side. As batters we’ve got to put runs on the board, it’s no good giving our attack 150 runs to bowl at. So as batters we have a huge responsibility and a big job to make sure we’re getting 350, getting 400 and putting those runs on the board, and I’m very confident if we can select the best attack we can have some success over there.”
Clarke also mentioned that the conditions in England play a bigger part. “I think conditions more in the air play a bigger part in England than what you see on the surface. If the sun’s out generally the wickets in England are very good for batting. If it’s overcast, it doesn’t matter how dry the wicket is, you get a lot of swing and some seam in the UK. I don’t think you can plan too much over there. I think England will use their strengths in their conditions. We’ll be able to adapt, we’ve got Nathan Lyon, hopefully I can bowl a few part-timers as well. We’ll find a way.”
Clarke scored a century on one of the toughest batting tracks in India. He didn’t play the entire series in India as he was not fit for the final Test at Delhi. However, at the moment, he is looking fit for the Ashes Series and he is being monitored by the support staff. “I’ve used the experts around me,” Clarke said. “Alex Kountouris, the Australian physio, has been fantastic and he’s been monitoring my program. In regards to my back it’s the daily maintenance I do … I’ve had another two-week boot camp with Duncan Kerr, we went away to my property there and trained really hard.
“So my preparation in regards to last year has been very similar, but it’s been monitored extra closely by the support staff to make sure I’m getting the strength I need, and to make sure I’m well prepared to play the whole 12 months.
“I’m confident it’ll be no different to what it has been through my career. I’ve managed to play 90-odd Test matches and only miss one through my career. That’s a big part of why preparation is so important for me, I need to make sure I’m fit, need to make sure I’m not carrying too much weight, I need to make sure I’m putting in the work to be fit in eight or 12 months’ time.”
“It’s more just getting used to facing a different ball to a Kookaburra,” Clarke said. “With your bowling action hanging on to the ball, catching and fielding as well, just because the ball is a little bit different to what we’re used to in Australia.
“We’re disappointed with our most recent results in India, we know that’s unacceptable as an Australian cricket team, and we’ve been working hard to try to turn that around. All I can ask for from the boys is to continue to prepare as well as we can, and give it a red hot crack. We know we’re playing against a very good team in their own back yard. Test cricket in my eyes will always be the pinnacle, and playing against England in England is as big as it gets.”
The bowling attack looks the one like that can take 20 wickets, but it’s the batting that should click for Australia in England.