Michael Clarke confident of brushing aside injury woes
Australian captain, Michael Clarke, is hopeful of his team’s chances in the World Cup next month despite a spate of injuries that have rocked the team on the eve of the tournament. At least three members of the team set to take part
in the tournament are in doubt after sustaining injuries in the last month or so.
The trio of Mike Hussey, Nathan Hauritz and Shaun Tait sustained injuries during the first two matches of the on-going ODI series against England, besides the trio captain Ricky Ponting is recovering from a broken finger.
Hussey and Hauritz are major doubts for the tournament.
Hussey has undergone surgery on his injured hamstring, while Tait sprained his side during the second ODI at Hobart. In the same match off-spinner, Nathan Hauritz, who was making a comeback in the team sustained a nasty shoulder injury
as he dived to stop a ball from reaching the fence.
Clarke is most upset about the injury to Hauritz especially since the spinner was overjoyed after his selection in the World Cup squad and wanted to make a real impression in the on-going engagement with England.
Despite the injuries Clarke is hoping for the best in the tournament, "We're confident that they'll both be alright for the World Cup", http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 said.
"It is a setback though because you want to keep playing as much cricket as you can and get as much form under your belt as possible. Anytime anyone gets injured it's a loss. They are disappointed personally, especially someone like
Haury who has had to go back to first-class cricket where he's been playing really well.
For this to happen now, I feel for him. Hopefully he'll be right for the World Cup - he'll play a big part in that".
The second ODI was won by the hosts by a comfortable margin, yet they were in real trouble batting first and were led to a defendable total by Shaun Marsh, who was included as a last minute replacement for Mike Hussey, and went on
to score 110.
"It shows we've got a lot of talent," Clarke said of Marsh’s knock. "What's most pleasing for me is when you see someone come in like Shaun and get hold of his opportunity. That continues to show the depth in first-class cricket in
Australia.
"I know that's been questioned this summer but I have 100 per cent belief that there is a lot of talent and good players out there. They're just looking for an opportunity and Shaun showed that tonight. We gave him his chance and he's
grabbed it with both hands. He continues to do it at the international level", Clarke added.
"He's performed opening the batting for Australia and he's had success down the bottom of the order.
"He's come into this game in good form, scoring runs for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Western-Australia-c865 and it's as good an innings as I've seen, under pressure and losing wickets around him. He really stood up today."
The Aussies are hopeful that the injuries would disappear soon as time is running out before the mega tournament. The four time champions have won the last three on the trot and despite their recent poor run are listed as one of the
favourites for the biggest limited overs tournament.
Before they get to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 to play their Pool A matches they have five more games to play against their arch rivals England. The first two matches have caused three injuries and the Aussie selectors would be hoping that the rest
of the squad lasts through the remainder of the series without any further injuries.
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