Michael Clarke urges players to focus on upcoming ODI series, and not next year’s Ashes – Cricket News Update
Australian skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978, on Tuesday urged his players to stay focused on next month’s One Day International series against England, and not look ahead to the Ashes series, which will take place next year.
“It’s important the boys aren’t looking at the Ashes right now. We need to be really focused on the one-day side of things to stay No.1 in the world,” the Australian one-day and Test skipper was quoted as saying by a leading daily on Tuesday.
The mighty Aussies will play back-to-back Ashes series in England and Australia in 2013 and 2014, but before that they have some crucial One Day series, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 wants his teammates to take every series one by one.
Australia, the world number one ranked ODI side, will play http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, for which the venue is yet to be decided.
Then they also have the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, in September this year, where they will look to dethrone Ashes rivals England to clinch their first World T20 title. Clarke wants his players to first prove their credentials in one day
cricket, before aiming towards the 2013 Ashes series, where they will be looking to avenge their 3-1 loss at home last year.
“It’s crucial we beat England and Pakistan and then the boys have got the Twenty20 World Cup to keep the shorter form of the game going,” the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Western-Australia-c865 middle-order batsman insisted.
"I certainly don't want to prioritize Test cricket right now over one-day or Twenty20 cricket. It's important to focus on what's in front of you,” he added further.
Clarke, who took over as the Australian skipper from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 in April last year, agreed that they have not been a consistent one-day side lately, especially offshores.
"Our one-day form hasn't been as consistent as we would like following a drawn series in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760," said the 31 right-handed middle order batsman.
The five-match one-day series between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751 at Belfast, on June 23.
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