http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978 calls for self-reflection following 0-4 whitewash – Cricket News Update
Australian skipper Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 has stressed the need for the team to have a reflective session on their recent ODI performances, following their 7-wicket defeat in the 5th and final ODI against England on July 10 at Manchester, which concluded
the series on a humiliating 0-4 whitewash.
“We need to play better cricket. We need to sit down as a team and have a look at our performances over the last 12 months and areas we need to get better. It certainly wasn't preparation,” he said, adding that the team’s training, and performances in the
warm-up matches preceding the series had been excellent, leaving no room for excuses.
The Aussies, despite their top spot on the ICC’s ODI team rankings, have put forth erratic performances in their one-day series recently, and displayed a worrying downward trend. Their first ODI assignment this year was the Commonwealth Bank tri-series which
they hosted in February. Despite having lost 4 of the seven matches they played against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, Australia eventually went on to win the series.
However, they were not so lucky in the series that followed, and what had appeared to be an easy victory culminated in a 2-2 draw as the Aussies went head to head with underdogs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in a five-match ODI series in March this year.
The recent outing in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 saw Clarke’s men taking another step down, as they conceded one defeat after another, and were unable to make a comeback, eventually losing the one-day series 0-4.
“... Against good opposition in international sport you've just got to find a way to win,” Clarke observed, lamenting his side’s inability to bounce back. “Good teams do that ... they'll lose the first match of the series, but they'll find a way to turn
it around, and we haven't been good enough to do that so that's an area we have to improve.”
The defeat marks the first time in the 41-year history of the ODI format that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 have suffered such a heavy loss in a bilateral series. It is also the first series defeat the team has suffered during Clarke’s reign as captain so far.
However, the team has a shot at redemption in their upcoming 3-match one-day series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, scheduled to be played in the UAE during late August/early September this year.
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