Clarke: comparisons pointless, Australia is ready

November 20, 2013

Brisbane, Nov 20: Michael Clarke is giving nothing away on the eve of the Ashes. Not his starting XI, not comparisons between this and the previous series, not praise nor predictions, not even observations on England.

clarke

Outwardly, the captaincy style harks back to another era, back in the mid-1980s when Australia was struggling in the international arena.

And with good reason -- England is in Australia with a settled squad and favored to win a fourth consecutive Ashes series for the first time since the 1880s.

Clarke and the Australians will have to be at their grittiest best to stop them.

Australia's squad is more settled than it was during the tumultuous buildup to the last Ashes series in England, which only finished in August with the home team as 3-0 victors.

England has won eight of the last 15 Ashes tests, and won four of the five Ashes series since ending Australia's dominating run with a home triumph in 2005.

In the weeks leading up to the last Ashes series, Cricket Australia fired South African Mickey Arthur as coach -- bringing in former test batsman Darren Lehmann as a late replacement -- and suspended opener David Warner after a night club incident.

The squad never seemed to recover, but is outwardly showing signs of growing confidence ahead of a home series.

"We've played a lot more cricket now as a group. The five tests in England helped us as a group," Clarke told a news conference today at the Gabba, less than 24 hours before the five-test series was due to start.

"It would be silly to compare where we were then compared with where we are now. Different series, different conditions."

Rival players have been trading barbs in the media and on social networks in recent days, with Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad having plenty to say for England, and Warner and co. firing salvos from Australia.

It's all hype, Clarke said, and means nothing come Thursday morning. He didn't respond to questions about Broad, Pietersen's 100th test cap or the chances of wicketkeeper Matt Prior recovering from injury to play in the first test for England.

The Australian lineup is more stable than it was five months ago, with Shane Watson recovering from a hamstring strain to take his place at the top of the order and also offering to bowl some overs if he's needed to cover the pace group of Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and the returning Mitch Johnson.

Clarke said he knows his batting lineup from No. 1-7, but won't reveal it until after the starting XI is announced before the toss.

The only uncertainty seems to be whether Australia will play spinner Nathan Lyon or go for another pace option with allrounder James Faulkner.

Warner returned midway through the last Ashes series but didn't cement his spot in the order, and was one of six batsmen tried at No. 6 as selectors searched for a replacement for the retired Mike Hussey.

He was dropped from a subsequent limited-overs tour to India but has regained form with multiple centuries in domestic cricket and will open the innings.

George Baily earned a shot to bat at No. 6 on the basis of his form while leading Australia in India when Clarke was sidelined with a back problem. That should be the only change at the top of the order from the team Australia fielded in the fifth test at The Oval.

Clarke batted and bowled in the nets on Wednesday, and said he's ready to contribute with bat and ball if required in Brisbane.

Australia hasn't lost a test at the Gabba in 25 years, and the Brisbane venue has become something of a fortress as the start of each test series.

"The belief is there," Clarke said. "Hopefully we'll show that over the next five test matches."

Australia (from): David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (captain), Steve Smith, George Bailey, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon, James Faulkner.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: Australia batsman David Warner on Tuesday decided to shave off his head to show support towards all those people who are working relentlessly on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.

After shaving off his head, Warner also challenged his Australian team-mate Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli to do the same.

Warner, shared a time-lapse video on Instagram, of him shaving his head, and captioned the post as: "Been nominated to shave my head in support of those working on the frontline #Covid-19 here is a time-lapse. I think my debut was the last time I recall I've done this. Like it or not".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's death toll stands at 19, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

As of 8 am today, 4460 people across Australia have tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a 'pandemic' on March 11.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine also confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh is unlikely due to the virus spread.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

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January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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January 28,2020

Hamilton, Jan 28: No one sits on the seat that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his own in the team bus, revealed India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, saying that the talismanic former skipper is missed by the side.

In a video shot inside the team bus while it was on its way to Hamilton for the third T20 International against New Zealand, Chahal is seen talking to several members of the squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to an empty seat which, he said, was the former captain's preferred spot before he went on a sabbatical last year.

"Yeh woh seat hai jahan ek legend baithate the. Mahi bhai. Abhi bhi yaha koi nahi baithata. Hum unhe bohot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot)," Chahal said in the video posted on 'bcci.tv'.

The-38-year-old Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. Earlier this month, Dhoni was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on his future.

However, on the same day, Dhoni returned to training, batting fluently in the Jharkhand team nets.

Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

The Indian team lead the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 2-0.

Virat Kohli's men will take on the hosts in the third T20 here on Wednesday.

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