Clarke keen to bounce back
August 22, 2012 13:37:58 UK
Australian captain Michael Clarke sees the limited-overs series against Pakistan as an ideal chance to repair the damage of the recent 4-0 whitewash in England.
Australia have travelled to the United Arab Emirates to face Afghanistan in a one-day international, then take on Pakistan in three ODIs and three Twenty20 games.
And Clarke feels confident his players can bounce back from the disappointment against England.
"I think it's a good opportunity for us to get some of that consistency back in the one-day format," Clarke said.
"We didn't play anywhere near as well as we would've liked in England.
"We learned a lot and it was nice for some of the guys who hadn't experienced those conditions to get over and do that, but we certainly didn't get the results we were after, so I think it's a good opportunity to turn that around."
Having come together in Darwin last week for a training camp, Clarke feels the team is well prepared for their UAE assignment.
"It's not about what you say now, it's about what we do as a team," Clarke said.
"It's now up to us, as individual players and as a team, to do something about it.
To realise that we sit fourth in the one-day rankings, we sit third in the Test rankings and I think we sit eighth or ninth in the Twenty20 rankings."
"Every player knows that's unacceptable for an Australian team."
Coach Mickey Arthur will be absent from the first part of the tour, with his assistant Steve Rixon taking charge until the start of the T20s.
Meanwhile, Australia are 1213.00 to win the 2012 World Twenty20.
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