I wouldn't count myself in the lunatic fringe that has been saying he can't bat, but I have criticised his shot selection when set ... and fair dinkum, if two catches (one a sitter) hadn't been grassed I would be giving it to him this evening.
The first chance was a repeat of his Perth dismissal. The second was late in the day and after Haddin's dismissal. Would have been criminal.
I couldn't agree with the poster who said he batted like an Australian captain. He needs to get control of that mental part of his game before I could say that.
No doubt he has been our most consistent and fluent batsman since India. But has butchered several tons and really hurt the team at times with soft dismissals.
Having said that he is a world class batsman which used to be taken for granted in our top 7 but is increasingly rare... Was probably in the best touch of his summer today too and genuinely saved our innings.
Deserves big wraps but not unqualified ones.
It's a valid criticism too, he does offer chances. That's just his game though...it's a rare innings that he doesn't offer a chance but it's also a rare innings that he doesn't capitalise when a chance is missed. He plays a lot like Mark Waugh and Michael Slater, loves to feel bat on ball and loves scoring runs and I personally wouldn't change that. He can play much more conservatively if needed as we've seen in the previous Test match, but it robs him of his fluency and run scoring ability. Again, in my opinion, I think he does a great job playing how he does and it's worth the odd chance. Sure, some days we'll be sitting back saying "Pup, you idiot, what was that for?", much like we did with Junior and Slater...but at the same time, we built or dominant era on free flowing batsmen like him surrounded by rocks like Steve Waugh, and we need him playing the way he does to win games IMO. Katich and Hussey can be the glue, and guys like Clarke will be the guys who capitalise on that.
