Michael Clarke ready for the first ODI clash on Sunday
Australia’s stand-in skipper, Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 is all set to face the touring English in the first ODI of a seven match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCB), due to be played on Sunday.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, after losing the Ashes to the English, managed to draw the two match T20 series by winning the second match on Friday. The defeat in the Ashes has left Australia devastated and the team, which was once thought to be invincible, is now the most
vulnerable.
Clarke, who took the responsibility of captaincy from Ricky Ponting, who is currently nursing a broken finger, believed that the seven match ODI series would be a great opportunity for Australia to prepare for next month’s World Cup in the sub-continent.
"We've got a huge World Cup ahead of us and these seven games are pretty important to build momentum going into the World Cup," he said.
Clarke also termed the game on Sunday as important because it would mark the 40th anniversary of One-day cricket in the world. The ODI format of cricket was invented in 1971. An interesting fact about the world’s first ODI is that the match was
played between the same two teams, and Australia beat England by five wickets.
Clarke would definitely want to beat England on this historic occasion, however, looking at the current form of the visitors, Australia would have to play out of their skins to beat the rampaging English.
Australia is currently ranked as the world's best ODI team. They were also at the top in Test cricket earlier, before http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 snatched the title away from them last year. In 2010, Australia were also defeated in the final of the ICC World Twenty20, by England.
The One-Day format of the game remains the only area in which they are currently ranked the best in the world. The Aussies will be looking to redeem themselves in the up-coming matches in the eyes of the cricketing world, and retain their top spot to enter
the World Cup as the favourites.
Clarke feels confident that Australia can defeat the English in the seven match series and also prepare well enough for the World Cup. He brushed aside the rumours that it would be difficult for the Australian players to focus on their form and fitness for
the World Cup while taking on the English at the same time.
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