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5th ODI: England v Australia at Manchester Jul 10, 2012

Hallatia

Referee
Messages
26,433
Lee, Watson injuries add to insult
Daniel Brettig
July 7, 2012

Shane Watson and Brett Lee may be taking early leave from Australia's sobering tour of England after both suffered calf injuries in the tourists' eight-wicket loss to England at Durham. The left-armer Mitchell Starc, currently bowling well for Yorkshire, may yet be called up as cover for the final match at Old Trafford.

Watson could bowl only one over in England's innings before leaving the field, while Lee had bowled two balls of his second spell when he felt pain in his right leg and also headed to the treatment room, following an abortive attempt to bowl a third.

Watson and Lee are being assessed by Australia's physio Alex Kountouris and the team doctor John Orchard, with the results of MRI scans to be known as early as Sunday. Both are unlikely to take part in Manchester, leaving Lee stranded one wicket shy of Glenn McGrath's Australian ODI wicket-taking record. As he digested his first series defeat as Australia's Test or ODI captain, Michael Clarke confirmed the calf injuries, and that he had advised Lee to get his problem checked out before trying to bowl again.

"I haven't had time to speak to Alex yet, but I do know they've both got calf injuries - to what extent, I don't know," Clarke said. "I ran from slip to ask what it was about, and he said it was cramp. I just said at that stage 'go off, and find out if it is'. I haven't seen him since."

Though Australia had to cope with the most difficult of the conditions at Chester-le-Street having been sent in to bat after heavy overnight rain, Clarke would not offer any excuses for another comprehensive loss to England. The margins of defeat has only grown with each match in this series, reminding the tourists of how far they have to go to provide a serious challenge for the Ashes on English soil in 2013.

"I do believe England got the better of conditions, but it's easy to make excuses," Clarke said. "I think we had the better of conditions at Lord's as well, and England still found a way to beat us. That's what you have to do, against good opposition - in all different conditions around the world; you've got to find a way to have success. Unfortunately, once again today, we were outplayed.

"How far apart, are we? I don't know; you do everything you can to try to win every game, taking the field for Australia. Unfortunately, sometimes you lose; on this tour, we haven't seen the other side. But we've got one game to go, and I'd be very disappointed to go home without a win."

Australia's failure to make significant totals has been matched by their inability to make a dent in England's top order, an area Clarke noted with particular disappointment. As an aggressive captain searching for wickets, Clarke has not been short of ideas, but his bowlers have foundered on the rocks of Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott.

"I'd like to see more of their batting order, that's for sure. We can't get through the top three or four at the moment," Clarke said. "We haven't taken wickets - Clint McKay's been really our only wicket-taker. I don't care what form of the game it is, you've got to get blokes out.

"If you want to slow the scoring you take wickets - that's always been my attitude in any form of the game. "It's been very disappointing that we haven't been able to bowl England out. Credit to them - they've used the conditions better, bowled very consistent areas to build up pressure."

As for the question of whether or not the defeat had added to the scar tissue Australia carry from their past two Ashes losses, Clarke hoped there would be few ramifications in 12 months' time. But he will not know for sure until the likes of James Pattinson, Matthew Wade and David Warner face England again.

"We've got a lot of guys involved in our Test squad who aren't involved in the one-dayers. Yes, the result hasn't gone our way on this tour so far," Clarke said. "But it's been a great opportunity for the players who haven't played much cricket in England to get here and see the conditions - especially for our young bowlers.

"It's been good for our batters who haven't had the chance to play against a really good English attack to see how good they are. We know we've got some work to do, in one-day cricket but also Test cricket before the next Ashes."
Sauce
 

TheParraboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
66,143
Clarke to open, Steve Smith into the middle order?

Starc for Lee, or will they go for X-Factor tattoo man Johnson?
 

AlwaysGreen

Immortal
Messages
47,826
Apparently the left handed x factor who bowls well in the nets was 'unavailable for selection' last night.
 
Messages
3,859
I think this game might be a case of who's fit will play.

Warner
Wade
Forrest
Clarke
Bailey
Hussey
Smith
Pattinson
McKay
Hilfenhaus
Doherty/Johnson
 

Horrie Is God

First Grade
Messages
8,073
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-australia-2012/content/current/story/571548.html

Australia have been 'bullied' - Arthur..

Daniel Brettig
July 8, 2012

Shocked by the margin of Australia's ODI series defeat to England, the coach Mickey Arthur has challenged the tourists to stand up to the bullying they have received so far in the final match at Old Trafford on Tuesday. In a stinging assessment of the one-day side, Arthur said there had been "something missing" for Australia in the 50-over format since he took over as coach last November, and stated the team had been too submissive in allowing England to sail to a decisive 3-0 series lead - inflicting the first loss of the captain Michael Clarke's 15 months in charge - for the cost of just 11 wickets.

Arthur gave the touring team a stern post-match address following the eight-wicket hiding suffered at Chester-le-Street, and followed it up by airing his concerns in public. While he did not question his players' work-rate or desire to succeed, he was worried about the vast gap that had emerged between training displays and what they were then capable of in the middle. Arthur was at a loss to explain why the ODI team had battled over a period in which the Test side has gathered strength.

"I think our Test team is really good, it's really settled, it's got that hard edge. The Twenty20 team, we haven't really had that much time together, but the one-day team there's just that something missing," Arthur said. "I've said it all through our home summer, there's just something missing. I'm not sure what it is. Is it character, is it ambition? I'm not sure - there's just something clearly missing. I've challenged the players, I'll always be honest and I'll say it how it is. I'm really looking for a response.

"I want to see a bit of mongrel come Tuesday, I really do. I think we've been a bit submissive this whole series. We've allowed [ourselves] to be bullied, and we're better than that. I don't think we've had a presence this series. I'm talking absolute presence when batters are out there, like the presence our Test team had against India - when we walked on that field there was body language, we were strong, we were decisive, there was that presence.

"But we haven't had that presence in our one-day side. We didn't really get that presence in our one-day side through the international summer at home as well, and that's something we've been fiddling with, trying to get. We just don't seem to have the answers at the moment."

Since losing despite having the better of the conditions in the series opener at Lord's, Australia have laboured under the weight of their own expectations. With each match the margin of defeat has only grown, making many of the tourists' pre-series boasts look empty in the extreme. The most pointed of these was the prediction that England's batting was on the thin side due to the selection of five bowlers. Having highlighted Tim Bresnan's presence at No. 7 as a possible weakness, the tourists are yet to bowl at him.

"When we won the toss in favourable conditions at Lord's, I thought we bowled well. I'm certainly not having a go at any of the bowlers. I thought we bowled well," Arthur said. "England just seemed to find a way though, you looked at the scoreboard and they were 0 for 60, it was bizarre. We felt as though we'd beaten the bat and were well on top, but you looked at the scoreboard and they were 0 for 60 in about the 18th over.

"I guess in both disciplines we haven't found that way, and that's disappointing and worrying me a bit to be honest. I'm searching, I'm looking for those answers, I'm looking for that mongrel, looking for that guy who's going to stand up and change the game. We're looking for the guy who's going to take responsibility and say 'I'm the champ', I want to change momentum in a game. We seem to be a little bit submissive - we haven't stood up and we haven't grasped an opportunity like England have.

"We've spoken at length that if we can get them three down we're towards Craig Kieswetter then we're into Bresnan. Well, we've seen Kieswetter bat once at Lord's and we haven't seen Bresnan bat yet. And yet our batters, who are world class, seem to be getting out and put under the pump. Again, hats off to England, they're outstanding, but they're only doing the basics well. Cricket's about basics - we've got to do the basics better, we've got to be nailing those basics. I want to see them nail the basics like we do in training. We don't do it in the middle, and that's my worry, that's what I'm looking for."

A fourth defeat at Old Trafford would all but guarantee Australia's loss of the world No. 1 ranking in the ODI format to the winner of the subsequent series between England and South Africa. The ceding of top spot would confirm the slide of the one-day team from the group of solid practitioners who held on to top spot through the years of decline experienced by the Test side, to the muddled team swept away by England in this series.

"We're a changing team as world No.1, and I'm not having a character assassination of our team at all," Arthur said. "I'm looking for answers that are going to strengthen our team and lift our team again. It's certainly not a character assassination of them. I know those guys are bursting a gut to go out and do well. For us as management it's about finding that balance between their talent and performance, but somehow they are just not transforming that. That is what is perplexing me."

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo.

We are playing like champs in the nets..
 

AlwaysGreen

Immortal
Messages
47,826
As a sedge way Mr Twizzlestick you have a look at our fielding in general. That is one area we have slipped in in the last few years and it looks even worse without Ponting and M Hussey.

Clarke must bat no lower than 3.
 

Gidley Up

Juniors
Messages
425
As a sedge way Mr Twizzlestick you have a look at our fielding in general. That is one area we have slipped in in the last few years and it looks even worse without Ponting and M Hussey.

Clarke must bat no lower than 3.

Segue.

The only good thing that can come out of this series is the long overdue axing of Xavier Doherty. I'd rather stop midway through a piss than watch this scrub inexplicably represent Australia. It would be less painful.
 

AlwaysGreen

Immortal
Messages
47,826
Segue.

The only good thing that can come out of this series is the long overdue axing of Xavier Doherty. I'd rather stop midway through a piss than watch this scrub inexplicably represent Australia. It would be less painful.

Really? Here I was thinking I was riding a Self balancing scooter.
 

Earl

Coach
Messages
16,804
Mitch Johnson now comes out, on the eve of a game in England, and says that the Barmy Army taunts 'really hurt him'.

Show how mentally f**king weak some of these Aussie cricketers are. They honestly beleive they are royalty and make the world a better place.

If Australia is any chance of fighting its way back to the top, we need Steve Waugh and Allan Border type players, strong minded players.

Instead we have f**king pretty boys.
 

Mr Angry

Not a Referee
Messages
51,768
Give us a chance in this one.

No selfish wanker at the top of the order to throw balance off.
 

Horrie Is God

First Grade
Messages
8,073
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-australia-2012/content/current/story/571695.html

England aim to finish in style..

The Preview by David Hopps
July 9, 2012

Match facts
Tuesday, July 10
Start time 1400 (1300 GMT) (11pm Australian East Coast)

Big Picture
To be as driven to succeed as this England side are under the stewardship of Andy Flower is quite an advantage in a NatWest Series which essentially means very little and where desire has to come from within. That is enough for England to start as strong favourites in the final match against Australia at Old Trafford to achieve their tenth ODI win on the trot. Whether their improvement translates into a powerful challenge in the Champions Trophy next summer or the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand remains to be seen.

That an England v Australia series could at times feel so mundane must have been quite a shock to the administrators who foisted it upon us. It has been a series without a proper narrative, an add-on before the real business of the Ashes next summer. There has been an underlying feeling that something is not quite right.

Rarely can an England one-day victory against Australia have felt as routine as their eight-wicket victory in Chester-le-Street on Saturday, a result that put them 3-0 with only Tuesday's dead rubber at Old Trafford remaining, an Old Trafford that is in the throes of rebuilding work. Only the façade of the old pavilion remains and two new two-tier stands were still Hard Hat areas as the weather again forced both sides to practice indoors.

There was much to admire in England's Chester-le-Street performance - the destructive fast bowling of Steve Finn and the batting elegance of Ian Bell are two of the highlights that spring to mind - but Australia, in the words of their coach Mickey Arthur, had allowed themselves to be "bullied." Australia's 50-over side, he asserted, had "something missing." Old Trafford is their last chance to find it.

Form guide (Complete matches, most recent first)<
England WWWWW
Australia LLLWL

Watch out for
Chris Woakes was once described by Warwickshire's director of cricket and England selector, Ashley Giles, as the player he would most like to clone. The original uncloned version is still awaiting a chance in the series. He has the ability to balance up the side at No. 8 and deserves a home debut.

Coaches might value the reliability of players who allow them to sleep at night, but Mitchell Johnson might provide some welcome unpredictability for the spectators. Johnson has been told by Arthur to increase Australia's aggression, but he only has one game to do it and admitted he has no idea whether he can flick the switch.

Team news
Do not be surprised to see England rest one, or even two, frontline players for this final match ahead of the South Africa Test series.

England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn

Matthew Wade will fill the vacancy created by Shane Watson's injury while Mitchell Starc could get a chance to bring his good form for Yorkshire onto the international stage.

Australia (possible) 1 Matthew Wade (wk), 2 Dave Warner, 3 Peter Forrest, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 David Hussey, 7 Steve Smith, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Clint McKay, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Mitchell Starc

Stats and trivia
England are looking for their 10th successive ODI win, but Graham Gooch, now England's batting coach, was captain when they won 11 in a row, a run which ended with defeat in the 1992 World Cup final although that included a no-result against Pakistan in the group stage.
Stuart Broad needs two wickets to reach 150 in ODIs while Alastair Cook needs 20 runs to reach 2000.
Australia have never lost four matches in a one-day series against England

Quotes
"Everything for me is focused towards playing Test match cricket. But at the moment it is about taking the responsibility of opening the bowling for the one-day team and trying to thrive on it."
Steven Finn, England's fast bowler, wants a long-term spot in the Test team but is not getting carried away

"There's maybe a bit of fire missing in our one-day side. My role in the team is I want to have that fire in the belly, get really aggressive, show them that we're serious and get on top of them. It could take a few games, it might be the next game where it all switches back on for me."
Australia's enigma Mitchell Johnson wondering if he can switch on for the final game of the series.

FMD we are in trouble if Johnson is our enforcer..

He is odds on to start crying when the shit hits the fan..
 

Hallatia

Referee
Messages
26,433
Johnson talks of renewed heart and vigour
Mitchell Johnson, Australia's enigmatic fast bowler, has spoken of rejuvenated confidence and drive inspired by a seven-month break from the international game.
Daniel Brettig
July 9, 2012

Australia's response to the challenge placed before them by their infuriated coach Mickey Arthur may be measured at Old Trafford by the performance of the famously enigmatic Mitchell Johnson. On his first tour since a foot injury ruled him out of the last Australian summer, Johnson made an unsteady return to the international bowling crease at the Oval, but has spoken of rejuvenated confidence and drive inspired by a seven-month break from the international game.

When Arthur sat down each member of the team in the Chester-le-Street dressing room and exhorted them to play with greater presence and confidence in the final match of a series lost 3-0 to England, Johnson nodded in assent and recognised that he had a key role to play.

He might not always have done that in the past, when matters far less pointed than a dressing down from the coach would get to him. It remains to be seen whether Johnson has completely ridded himself of the capacity to be distracted by events away from the middle, but he is at least talking the right game.

"I thought it was spot-on with what he said," Johnson said of Arthur. "We had to sit right in front of him and he just laid it out truthfully and honestly. I think that's a great trait for a coach. From where I'm sitting it was nice to hear that and something a lot of the guys were probably thinking anyway, so to hear it from the coach - we definitely needed that.

"It's more about body language; even if you've bowled a bad ball you've got to have that body language there, you don't want to give them any inch that you've bowled a bad ball or you're not feeling at your best. That's something I've learned over time. I felt like I was starting to get involved a bit more at the Oval. Bowling those no-balls I felt a bit down, but I probably didn't show it like I have in the past, slumped shoulders and head down. I kept on going."

The ability to keep going was for a time Johnson's greatest asset, as he remained Australia's most durable fast bowler through a deeply unsettled period. From his Test debut in Brisbane in 2007 to the Johannesburg Test in November 2011, Johnson played 47 of a possible 48 Test matches, only the 2010 Adelaide Ashes Test in which he was dropped. This sequence served to drain Johnson of enthusiasm and belief. He spoke of the Johannesburg injury as a relief rather than a setback.

"I just wasn't sure where I was going," Johnson said. "If I hadn't got the injury and let's just say I got picked on the next trip - because there was concern that I wasn't going to get picked - I don't think anything would have changed in my performances. I don't think I would have retired but I definitely would have stepped away from it a little bit. Before my injury I wasn't confident and didn't believe in myself.

"The first two months away from it I didn't miss the game at all. I'd spoken to one of the coaching staff and said: 'I'm just not interested in it.' I was just chilling out at home and with friends. I'm happy with my life now outside of cricket as well. I'm enjoying being back in the side. I'm just not stressed about too many things anymore."

Another element of his span in the Australian team before the injury was the slow, painful slide in the team's results. Johnson's enthusiasm was switched back on by the sight of watching the team winning against India, enjoying the adulation of home crowds where the summer before against England they had been ridiculed. Reminded of how much fun the game could be, he wanted back in.

"I started watching a few more games here and there and guys were performing well, and I think that snapped me out of it a little bit," Johnson said. "It was good just to have people off our backs as well, as a team. We've copped a fair bit in recent times."

Ironically, Johnson's renewed pursuit of an Australian place has come in England, where he has been reunited with the fans who goaded him unmercifully both in 2009 and in Australia in 2010-11. He was surprised he did not receive more stick at The Oval when his no-balls released any pressure created by an otherwise disciplined line.

"It's a bit of a compliment in a way. They wouldn't put so much crap on me if they weren't threatened," Johnson said. "That's how I see it. I think they know that when I'm on, it's going to be tough for their side. You can get caught up in it sometimes, singing their songs. I was copping it in Durham and I wasn't even playing. I could hear them over the other side of the ground.

"I just laugh about it now. You can't let it affect you. It really does mean nothing. They're trying to put you off your game and that's it. It'd be nice to go out there and win this last game and not necessarily rub it in their face but show that we're competitive and that when we do come back here next year we're going to put on a show for them."

The question of how Johnson fits back into the Australian team is an open one. His peaks and troughs as a bowler are infamous, running the gamut from his unplayable displays in South Africa in 2009 and in Perth against England in 2010 to the depths he slid to against England at Lord's in 2009, when he was distracted by the airing of family problems in the press.

Given the success and consistency the Test team have enjoyed without Johnson, it is difficult to see him resuming in the five-day game unless a surfeit of injuries opens up a place. In acknowledgement of the fact he had drifted at times in the past, Johnson is now working much more assiduously at training, more aware of his field settings and concentrating on his most positive thoughts.

"Belief and confidence are a huge part of how I'm feeling at the moment. I'm thinking a little more about my bowling with training sessions as well, like making sure I know where my field is when I'm bowling in the nets because I've gone into net sessions where someone will hit a good shot and I'd think 'bugger, he's probably hit that for four' without knowing where my field is.

"That's one thing that's worked for me, knowing what field I've got in the net session. It's really simple things that are working for me, and just having my cues that keep me relaxed and keep that body language up. What is really good at the moment with our bowling group is we've got guys who've got the experience now, so they know what it's like at the top level.

"There was a time there when Brett Lee was gone I had to take over the reins and there was Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, we hadn't really played a lot of cricket together or at the highest level. We're going in the right direction, now it's up to performances and putting the right squads together."

More important to Johnson than any team permutations or training stratagems, however, is the acknowledgement that he is a confidence player. He now knows he has to get himself into the right mind frame if he is to perform, irrespective of where his front arm, left shoulder and wrist are positioned.

"There's been a lot of talk about my technical faults," he said. "It is more of a mental game for me I think, the crowds, conditions, it all plays a big part - and I am in the right frame of mind.

"It's about belief and confidence in yourself, and that's something I've gained being away from cricket because I was in a period before my injury where I wasn't confident. Look at the England side and look at Ian Bell, the amount of confidence he shows out on the paddock, from what it was two years ago; Alastair Cook as well. We can learn from the English in a way."
Sauce
 
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