Test number 100 - The Ashes captains gear up for their 100th Test

Clash of the titans – Cook and Clarke look forward to play their 100th test

The Ashes series has been quite interesting so far. The Australian side has impressed cricket viewers from all around the world by winning both the Test matches. The series played in England was a nightmare for Australia as they lost the 5 match series 3-0 and the remaining were drawn due to rain and bad light.

Coincidentally Micheal Clarke and Alastair Cook will be playing their 100th Test and the 3rd Test of the Ashes series at Perth. Both batsmen have been quite exceptional in the series but Clarke has enjoyed two wins over his rival Cook. The Australian will look forward to the third Test at WACA to secure a third win which could mean end game for England in the Ashes series.

Clarke has hammered the English bowling in both the tests

Another fact that is co-incidental is that both Alastair Cook and Micheal Clarke had their first Test centuries against India. Alastair Cook had his first Test century against India in Nagpur. He had scored a 104 not out on the back of which England drew the match. Micheal Clarke also had his debut century against India in Bangalore. He had scored a massive 151 against India in the Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2004.

Quite dangerous and also aggressive.

A win in the 3rd test at WACA for Australia would mean a series victory for them, and the remaining two matches at Melbourne and Sydney can be taken easy and without any pressure. Mitchell Johnson has been the key factor for Australia’s two Test victories at Brisbane and Adelaide. He has been given the Man of the Match awards in both of the matches for his phenomenal bowling.

Alastair Cook would look to win the third Test or at least draw it for the series to keep the series alive. With Jonathan Trott leaving the series due to depression there has been a loophole in the England middle order. He will probably look forward to firing up the England middle order batsmen including Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior. Kevin Peitersen has not been impressive so far in the series while Ian Bell has scored runs but hasn’t been able to stave off the two losses his team has suffered.

Back to sledging ways?

There was also the “sledging” which Australia was previously notorious for. There was a war of words between the Australian and England players in both the Tests. Clarke was involved in a fight with James Anderson in the first Test which involved the Australian captain telling the England bowler – “Get ready for a ***king broken arm”. The second Test included a fight between Mitchell Johnson and Ben Stokes which led the umpire to intervene.

No wonder then, that the Ashes are called the most exciting Test series in the game of cricket.