December 28, 2008. Michael Clarke calls it one of the worst days of his career, while his coach Tim Nielsen described it as “something your worst nightmares couldn’t come up with.” This was the day when Australia’s thirteen-year dominance of Test cricket finally came to an end.
Australia had started the third day of the second Test against South Africa at the MCG in a familiar position, having made a healthy 394 they now had South Africa struggling at 198-7, so were naturally expecting to establish an mammoth first innings lead.
But then something strange happened. Try as they might, they couldn’t knock over the South African tail. For most of the day under a relentlessly hot sun, Australia’s bowlers failed to intimidate or dislodge the rookie JP Duminy, playing in only his second Test, or fast bowler Dale Steyn and his Test average of 9.80.
The MCG began to realise they were witnessing Australia’s power slowly ebbing away before them with every boundary or pinched single. It was both painful and embarrassing as together Duminy and Steyn put on 180, the third highest ninth-wicket partnership of all time, to give South Africa a barely believable lead of 65.
The experience utterly demoralised Ricky Ponting’s side, and on the final day South Africa would eventually win the Test by nine wickets to hand Australia their first series defeat at home in 16 years, only weeks after they had gone down to their heaviest series defeat in nearly 20 years against India.
“Yeah, Melbourne wasn’t good,” sighs Clarke, his normally sunny disposition jolted by the memory. “But that wasn’t even the first time that situation had happened, because in Bangalore a few months earlier we also weren’t able to bowl out the Indians.
“That was very disappointing. When you’re told you have a day five wicket and runs on the board you would like to back your bowlers and knock the opposition over, but that isn’t happening any more…I suppose what we’ve done to teams in the past, they are now doing to us.”
While Clarke can’t quite bring himself to deliver the last rites to Australia’s long reign of Test supremacy, tellingly he also refuses to lend support to the ICC’s rankings which continue to place Australia at the summit.
“That’s not for me to say, he replies, surprisingly devoid of the customary Australian confidence. “It is up to the opposition we play to decide whether we are still the best in the world, they will work that out and be able to tell you. The Test scene is changing, we now need to learn from our mistakes and try to find ways to score more runs and get 20 wickets because at the moment we aren’t doing those things enough.”
Amid Australia’s decline, Clarke himself has just enjoyed the most successful and prolific calendar year of his career. During 2008 he scored 1063 Test runs at an average of 50.61, almost double his previous best haul in a year, before starting this year with scores of 138 and 41 as Australia won a morale-boosting victory over South Africa in the third Test at Sydney.
This summer England will welcome back a very different cricketer to the prodigy who was on the last Ashes tour four years ago. After scoring 91 from 106 balls in the first Test at Lord’s he ultimately failed to live up to the hype and struggled like the rest of the Australian side before being promptly dropped on his return home.
Now Clarke is a more mature and wiser player, with a new game, still full of his natural flair and cavalier shots, but augmented now with a tightened technique and a useful ability to stick around and accumulate large scores.
And as a succession of greats of the modern game have left the Australian changing room over the last two years, Clarke, still only 27, has also increasingly taken on a more vocal and senior role in the side, and last year succeeded Adam Gilchrist as Australia’s vice-captain.
The Sydneysider is a naturally optimistic character, personable and chipper, who manfully attempts to remain positive whenever possible, and here, in the aftermath of the historic series defeat to South Africa, Australia’s Test captain-in-waiting talks about the reasons behind his country’s demise and the way back.
How do you explain the series defeats to both India and South Africa during the last six months?
Obviously we have lost a lot of great players, and now Matty Hayden has retired too, so there has been a changing of the guard. Playing India in India is always hard, we have only won there once in the last 40 years, and South Africa are a very good team who simply outplayed us.
Did the defeats come as a shock or have there been warning signs?
It is harder for us to continue playing the cricket we have over the last 15 years because we are now without so many of those legends. It is obvious we are in a rebuilding period, especially with the Test side, and we have to acknowledge that. We don’t want to make excuses, because we still have the same goal to win every Test. We have to be patient with the new guys. There is a lot of talent floating about and it will take time before they can live up to the greats who have just retired. No one expects them to come straight in and immediately be the new Hayden, McGrath or Gilchrist.
So what is missing from the current Australian side?
We need to recapture the consistency that our success was built upon. What has let us down is that we had opportunities to win some of these recent Tests and we didn’t grasp them. We are normally so good at taking a firm grip of Tests, so we let ourselves down by not doing that. We need to learn how to nail opponents once again.
After so much success how does it feel to be suddenly losing series?
It is definitely a new experience, and the truth is we don’t like it. I would love to win every Test match in three days, but that isn’t happening now. This is the new reality. It is hard to come to terms with not winning all the time, so we’re all having to deal with that, the Australian public, the media and the players. It is amazing that we are not bowling teams out like we used to on the last day.
Who is the stronger rival: South Africa or India?
They are hard to compare because we played them in different conditions. India have so many great players, and we played them in India, which is such a hard place to win. This was my first series against South Africa, and I found them a very tough team, winning like they did in Australia showed their quality, their batting was strong and their bowlers were tremendous. They will be even tougher opponents in South Africa next month.
Last year Ricky Ponting said Australia’s bowling attack had been brought back to the pack in Test cricket. Would you agree?
It is obvious we continue to miss Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. When I played with them I felt confident that they could bowl any opposition out on any given day on any wicket, they were so good. Losing those players has had a huge impact.
Are Australia any closer to finding a new spinner?
I guess at this stage we are still trying to find the right one. Some say we have no spinners, but that’s not true, we have a few guys who can play Test cricket and do a good job. But you can’t compare them to Shane Warne right now, he is the greatest bowler I have ever seen. I just think that the expectations need to be dropped a little bit for the new guys.
Is there any chance Shane Warne could come out of retirement?
Look, being a close mate of Warnie’s, I can’t see that there is any chance he will play Test cricket again. He is very happy with his new life at the moment, and he’s very busy. We speak all the time and I don’t see it happening.
Which of Australia’s new generation of bowlers most excite you?
Peter Siddle has got a lot talent because in only his fourth Test he got a five-for and was Man of the Match, so he should have a very successful Test career. Doug Bollinger has a good first-class record and there is an opportunity for him. There have been a lot of positives because some new guys have come in to the side shown they are capable of playing Test cricket.
How has the Australian changing room evolved since you first entered?
When I first came in to the team it was full of legends like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchirst, Damien Martyn, Justin Langer and Glenn McGrath, but we are moving in to a new era now, the average age is getting younger, and I notice no one smokes any more too! We might have lost some experience, but there remains plenty of enthusiasm, talent, and although I hate this word, potential. The culture of representing Australia is as strong now as it always has been and we have the same goal of trying to win every game we play.
Has there been a moment when you’ve realised you were no longer ‘Pup’ and were now a senior player?
It was during last year when I got the vice-captaincy, and also at times when I look around the changing room and realise I am one of the more experienced guys. My role has changed and I feel very comfortable with that. I can relate to the new players as it doesn’t feel that long ago when I was making my own debut. In the past most of the team were older than me, but now guys in the side are either younger than or the same age.
Have you consciously taken more of a leading role in the side?
I have always been the type of guy who speaks their mind, and if something needs to be said I will say that. It is probably one of my strengths, although when I was younger it got me in trouble. I won’t let things simmer, I will come out and say how I feel around the team.
How would you describe the relationship between yourself and Ricky Ponting as captain and vice-captain?
On the field if I think something needs to be done I will approach Ricky and make suggestions. Throughout my whole career Ricky has always made me feel comfortable about doing that. Before I was even vice-captain if I wanted to say something he allowed me to. Ricky has a lot of experience, so I am still learning from him. No matter what it is about, on or off the field, our relationship is pretty good. I hope I bring some youthful enthusiasm to compliment Ricky’s experience. Our combination has been OK so far.
Do you think you have leadership qualities?
No one wants to hear me talk about myself like that. Put it this way I am really enjoying being vice-captain, and learning a lot from Ricky.
Was sending Andrew Symonds home from Darwin a test of you as a captain you had to pass? Did it prove you could make tough decisions?
I didn’t see it like that at the time. When it came up I didn’t think it was a personal test for me to pass or fail. At the time, and I told Simmo exactly this, we made the decision [to send him home] for the benefit of the Australian cricket side and Andrew Symonds himself. If you ask him know, he will agree with that decision. I didn’t make the decision on my own, it was with a few other people, but as I was the captain of that time I had to front the media and be the face of the decision.
Since that controversy Andrew Symonds has failed to recapture his best form, so what does the future hold for him now?
I still think Simmo has the same passion to play for Australia, and looking to the future he will continue to be a crucial part of the side.
You have just enjoyed the best year of your career: How would you account for all those runs?
Well, I wouldn’t say this has been the best year of my life, I would gladly give back all those runs for us to have beaten India and South Africa. Overall, it was a disappointing year. Those runs were pretty irrelevant because they didn’t help. The best year was beating England in the 2006/07 Ashes, because my runs meant something.
How has your approach to the game changed in the last year?
I have just grown up and matured a lot as a player and person and you can see that in my game. I have learned how I perform best. I now know what the best preparation is for me and how that helps me succeed. I have the mindset now that there is more to life than cricket, I understand that very well, but every time I walk out to bat I feel the same as I ever did. It isn’t that I was trying too hard when I got dropped three years ago, it is simply because I have naturally matured and know how to score runs.
Shane Warne has increasingly become your mentor: What have you learned from him?
It’s true Warnie plays a very important role in my career, and we speak all the time about cricket and life. He says he wants me to learn from his mistakes, but that’s probably not the right word because Warnie has no regrets. I guess he has seen the very best and worst of international cricket, he has spent a lot of time away from home, and I’m trying to learn from everything he’s been through. He has an amazing cricket brain, which I have always tried to take from. We have become good friends and I get as much advice about cricket and the lifestyle that goes with it. He would do anything for me.
In Australia you are treated as a celebrity. Does that ever make you uncomfortable or do you have to embrace it?
It is part of being a professional athlete, especially for a cricketer in Australia, so you have to live with it. II know I’m a role model and you have certain standards to uphold, but I am happy to accept that responsibility. It can be hard when you’re reading stuff in magazines about your personal life that is completely untrue. But it is a minor thing, and I wouldn’t swap my life now with anyone.
0 comments:
Post a Comment