Australian captain Michael Clarke Disappointed at Twenty20 Loss to Sri Lanka
The 7-wicket loss to the Sri Lankans in the only Twenty20 match between the two sides has disappointed Australian captain Michael Clarke, who feels that his team needs to re-group quickly for bigger challenges
later in the year.
The Australians are enduring a serious dip in form and after losing the ODI and T20 series in England to the hosts and Pakistan respectively, they drew the two-match Test series against Pakistan before losing
the ODI and Test series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. The run was capped off by another unimpressive performance in the match at the WACA recently.
Understandably, Clarke is concerned, especially as the Ashes series against England draws nearer.
“You want to win every game you play, in all three forms of the game," Clarke told reporters in Perth after the game. "I was told in the press conference we had won 10 out of 10 in this form of the game in Australia,
so it is disappointing to lose our first Twenty20 game in Australia.
"It is important that we play good cricket and win these games against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 to build momentum into the Test series against England. We need to improve; there is no doubt about it. We are not getting the results
we would like in all three forms and we need to get better and keep working on our game, individually and as a team and keep working on the areas that aren't as good as they need to be."
Clarke started off brightly in the match at WACA; he opened the innings and hit a big six at the start before being caught out at only 16 runs from 19 balls.
He, like most of the other Australian batsmen, failed to assert himself on the Sri Lankans and eventually the team mustered up a below par 133-run total.
The hosts had to rely on a counterattack by Brad Haddin (35) and Steven Smith (34) to ensure that they put a fighting total on the board, yet the Sri Lankans cruised home in a canter (with 21 balls remaining)
and that is something that has perturbed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120.
However, Clarke defended his decision to open the innings with the flamboyant David Warner (2 off 8 balls), who failed to impress once again at the top of the innings.
Clarke wants his team to regroup for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka that starts on the 3rd November at the MCG ground in Melbourne. The second match is a day later at the SCG in Sydney,
followed by a match at the Gabba in Brisbane on 7th November.
After the series finishes, the Australians will start fine-tuning for the Ashes, which is one of the most important assignments of the calendar for them.
The Ashes is to be followed by the 2011 World Cup where the Aussies defend the title. They have won the last three World Cups and have not lost a single match since the defeat to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Headingley, Leeds
in 1999.
Meanwhile, the Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting has his eyes on the ultimate prize in Test cricket: the battle for the Ashes trophy against the Englishmen.
The five-match series is to be played on the five traditional venues: Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
The last series in Australia was won 5-0 by the hosts, while England’s last win in a five-day series in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 was way back in 1986-87, so on paper, the odds are definitely in Australia’s favour.
Both camps are eagerly waiting for the series that promises exciting cricket, and let’s face it, the Australian dip in form has only made the series even more enthralling.
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