da esport bet： After seeing their world-beating game-plan improved on by England,Australia are now looking to their Ashes dominators to provide a way outthis mess
Peter English at the SCG07-Jan-2011After seeing their world-beating game-plan improved on by England,Australia are now looking to their Ashes dominators to provide a way outthis mess. For more than a decade Australia were the leaders in planningand innovation, but over the past couple of years they have gone intofreefall.England’s 3-1 Ashes victory, their first Down Under since 1986-87, hasprovided Australia with another fierce reality check after a batch of themin 2010. “I think 100% we have to learn from what England did thisseries,” Clarke said. “Their performance, not only with bat and ball, butin the field, was outstanding for a five-Test series. There’s a greatstarting point to be able to turn up every day for five Tests, to performas well as they did.”Clarke was in the unfortunate position of being in charge when the trophywas handed over, having replaced the injured Ricky Ponting for the finalTest. He may have the job full-time if the selectors decide Ponting’s timeis up before the next tour of Sri Lanka in August, although Clarke loyallypledged his support to the official leader.If Clarke takes over at least he knows what his side needs to do tosucceed against the best teams. “It takes a lot of discipline, a lot ofplanning before the series,” he said. “The [England] bowlers have executedtheir plans outstandingly against our batters and their batters havecashed in when we haven’t bowled in the right areas. We do need to look athow England have played in this series and take a lot of notes from that.”The overall campaign was a poor one for Clarke, who performed so stronglyin the 2006-07 and 2009 Ashes campaigns. Clarke, who managed only 193 runsat 21.44, said it felt like the lowest point of his career.”Unfortunately I’ve lost a few Ashes series now and they’re all prettybad,” he said. “But being the vice-captain of the Australian team, andhaving such a disappointing series with the bat, it probably is [theworst].”Clarke, 29, has retired from Twenty20s to focus on improving his impact inthe longer forms of the game, but he was asked whether he should hold hisfive-day spot for the Sri Lanka trip. “I would like to, I really hope so,”he said. “Throughout this series I’ve played well in a couple of innings,but I couldn’t go out and make a big score.”If he had the series over again he would have practised more against tall,fast bowlers before the first Test in Brisbane. He spent the early stagesof the series being targeted by short-pitched deliveries when he wasovercoming a back injury, and was unable to find any fluency.Australia’s lead-up included one-day games against Sri Lanka and a coupleof domestic fixtures, while England were fine-tuning from the moment theirhome summer ended. They were better in all disciplines exceptwicketkeeping, where Brad Haddin and Matt Prior were evenly matched.James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, dismissed anycriticism of the schedule having an influence on the result. “To point thefinger at the preparation and suggest that was responsible for us losingthe series 3-1 is rubbish,” he said. “We actually played more Test cricketthan England did in the two or three months leading into the Ashesseries.”Clarke was hurt by the standard of the side’s fielding and said thebowlers needed more patience and discipline. “That’s what England havedone throughout this series,” he said, before offering his attack somesympathy.”I feel a bit for the bowlers, because I know they’ve copped a lot ofcriticism throughout this series, but I think we as batters have to take alot of responsibility as well,” he said. “If you can put 400 runs on theboard, as England have shown, your bowlers generally bowl a lot betterthan what we have. Putting 100, 200, 250 on the board and expecting thebowlers to get them out for that sort of target, I think we’re asking ahell of a lot.”