No complacency against Sri Lanka, says Michael Clarke

Australian skipper Michael Clarke has said that his team is not complacent in the Test series against series, and will look to improve on the recent performances against the Proteas.

The Aussies were dominant in the first two games against South Africa, but the touring side saved both games in good style. They responded strongly to win the third game easily, and clinch the series 1-0.

Now Australia are due to meet the islanders in three-match Test series, starting in Hobart on Friday. Sri Lanka have not won in 10 Tests in Australia, but still they are likely to give the home side real tough time.

The touring side does not have the best of bowling attacks, and the former Australian pacer, Rodney Hogg, has rated the present Lankan attack the ‘worst ever’ to visit Australia. Clarke, however, is not ready to take things lightly, and said that the focus
in on winning the series.

"The opposition is irrelevant to how you judge yourself as players," he said. Our goal is not to come out and play the same way against Sri Lanka as we did against South Africa.”

"We have to learn from that series, take the positives — and I thought there were a lot of positives — and the areas where we need to get better, we need to make sure we do that. I’m sure that if we improve on the series against South Africa, we’ll continue
to have success."

The Aussies have made some changes to the line-up. Mitchell Johnson has been left out for the first Test, whereas Phil Hughes has been brought back to bat at number three position.

"The strength and advantage we now have in our top four is that all four have opened the batting for Australia. So against the new ball they will be very well suited and if we lose early wickets we’re still very capable against the new ball which is a real
positive," he added.

David Warner is currently under fire for his rash batting against South Africa. Clarke, however, has defended Warner’s aggressive style of play, saying that the left-hander has his own game, which has earned him success in the past.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=36126

Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Dec 13 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry