Melbourne, May 19 (ANI): Michael Clarke’s future as Australia’s Twenty20 captain will be decided next week, after his dismal performance with the bat during the World Cup in the Caribbean.
Victoria captain Cameron White, who led his side to the Big Bash title, is being tipped to be the new Australian Twent20 skipper after incumbent Clarke’s tenure comes under review over his suspect batting in the shortest version of the game.
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch’s first job when he returns home from the Caribbean will be to hold a telephone conversation with his fellow selectors to pick Australia’s three teams for a tour of Britain, including the squad for two Twenty20 games against Pakistan.
That meeting is likely to be held at the weekend, The Age reports.
Clarke is sure to face further scrutiny of his tenure as a Twenty20 batsman and captain after his admission that the selectors “will have to have a look at my performances”, which he conceded were “not up to scratch”.
Clarke is favoured to assume the Test and one-day leadership when Ricky Ponting retires, but the issue of his Twenty20 form has become so sensitive that Cricket Australia officials have refused to discuss it until the selectors name captains for the England tour, which also includes two Tests against Pakistan and five one-dayers against England, the paper said.
Clarke has conceded that his position must come under review following Australia’s seven-wicket loss to archrivals England. He finished with 92 runs in the tournament at 15.33. White on the other hand scored 180 runs at 45, with a strike rate of 146.34 compared with Clarke’s strike rate of 80.7.
It is a difficult consideration for the selectors because of Clarke’s astute leadership and excellent winning record as captain. But his not holding his place in the Twenty20 team as a batsman is proving to be a critical weakness. (ANI)
Australian press and commentators react to Ashes defeat
London, Aug.24 (ANI): The Australian press and commentators have reacted along predictable lines to the latest Ashes series defeat to England in England.
“The Australian selectors have faced serious issues right through the series and they have not been solid. The selectors need to be made answerable at the end of this campaign, said former Australian opener Michael Slater.
“Not only did they [the selectors] handcuff Ponting at The Oval with four pacemen on a palpably dry pitch, but they also, once again, resorted to the failed ploy of expecting part-time spinners to do a specialist task,” The Independent quoted Ian Chappell, as saying.
“Forget all that nonsense about criticising Ponting’s captaincy. He remains unequivocally the best player to lead the team,” said the Herald Sun.
“I really don’t think that England deserve to win this year. This is hard for me to acknowledge, since I’m South African, and it’s in my blood to hate anything Australian,” said Frost on www.cricket- blog.com.
“We’ve scored eight tons versus England’s two. He [Ponting] must go as a captain – the only captain to lose the Ashes with the invincibles will become the only captain to lose two Ashes.” virtualGaz on www.cricket-blog.com
“England don’t deserve to win the Ashes. They haven’t scored enough centuries.
Day one of the final Test said it all. England won the toss. They picked the best side while Australia may have got their side wrong. The bowlers performed modestly in the first session. England got the start they wanted. Australia were rattled. The wicket was flat. The ball was swinging a bit but hardly venomously.
Ricky Ponting was chewing his nails and looked agitated. And still no English batsman could take control. Sorry but that’s not good enough,” said Robert Craddock in his report for the Herald Sun.
“Andrew Flintoff had to produce something magnificent in his final Test, you just knew, and when he threw down the stumps to dismiss Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to end a defiant innings, the Oval faithful had their moment,” said Jamie Pandaram, The Age. (ANI)