AUS Vs SL: Michael Clarke Drills Pat Cummins And Exposes Him After Australia's Horror Show In ICC World Cup 2023

Michael Clarke has delivered a frank evaluation of the Australian Cricket Team, expressing his concerns over selectors’ decisions and the team’s preparation ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. His remarks come in the wake of Australia’s second consecutive loss in the World Cup, a 134-run defeat to South Africa, marked by a disastrous collapse of 6-43.

Australia made two changes for Thursday’s game, with Marcus Stoinis returning from injury in place of Cameron Green, and Alex Carey was replaced by Josh Inglis. Clarke criticized the decision to drop Carey, suggesting that it seemed like Carey was being held responsible for Australia’s loss to India in the World Cup opener.

Michael Clarke expressed his disagreement with the selection, saying, “I don’t think selections were right. I’m unsure how you can take Alex Carey to India in the World Cup squad, give him one game and then drop him. No disrespect [to] Josh Inglis, I don’t know him at all and I’ve heard from a lot of people that he’s very talented and there’s something about him, but unfortunately last night he didn’t have a great night with the gloves.

“He dropped some balls early… he didn’t look… I’ve got to be careful how I say this because I don’t know him and it’s not just about him. I just think Alex Carey is a better keeper. And I think we saw that in the first 10 overs of the game. I don’t know how they drop Alex Carey after one game, what’s the point of taking him? And now what do you do? Do you reinstate him? You bring him back?”

“You can’t look at the first game against India and go. ‘OK, Alex Carey is the problem. Drop him’. That’s the other thing I think that frustrated me when I saw that line-up. I thought, hang on, you’re pretty much blaming Alex Carey for our performance against India.”

Michael Clarke went on to critique the team’s fielding performance, calling it “terrible” and questioning captain Pat Cummins’ tactics. He suggested that Cummins needed more experience as a captain in ODI fixtures.

“I fought harder than anyone for Pat Cummins to be Australian captain and I still stand here and say I think he’s the right man for the job but tactically last night I think he got it wrong again,” Clarke said.

“He won the toss and bowled, I think he ball chased and I don’t think he was aggressive enough. I don’t think he looked to take wickets. I feel like I’m wasting my breath. The easiest way to slow scoring is to take wickets yet we continue in Twenty20 cricket and one-day cricket, try to prevent runs.

“How is Pat Cummins not bowling in the first 10 overs? Or even if you’re going Glenn Maxwell, like we did, you’ve got to have a slip to the left-hander? You’ve probably got to have a bat-pad to the right-hander like you’ve got to look to take wickets early.

“I love him and I’m more than happy for him to be captain but he’s got to do some work on that.”

Michael Clarke Acknowledged South Africa’s Game Plan Against Australia

Michael Clarke emphasized the importance of taking wickets in one-day cricket, particularly in the sub-continent, to control the run rate. Clarke voiced his concerns about Australia’s sub-par preparation for the World Cup, pointing out that the team had made several mistakes leading up to the tournament.

Despite the team’s struggles, Michael Clarke acknowledged South Africa’s smart game plan and execution, praising their performance.

“South Africa looked great,” he said.

“I’ll tell you what they did do, they did well in those first sorts of eight to 10 overs to read the play, to look at the pitch and look at Australia’s bowlers to get through Starc and Hazlewood and then capitalise. They were brilliant.

“So I don’t want to take anything away from South Africa and then they executed well with the ball to put Australia under pressure. But already making that many runs when Australia are under the pump and it’s a must-win game for the Aussies, that’s just smart cricket by South Africa.”

Michael Clarke also expressed concern about the upcoming matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, highlighting the challenges posed by teams in sub-continental conditions. He cautioned that if Australia continued to perform poorly, they might face difficulty in qualifying for the next stages of the World Cup.

In conclusion, Clarke suggested that the conversation about Australian cricket could resemble the discussions about the Wallabies (the Australian rugby union team) if the team’s performance did not improve.

Australia will now face Sri Lanka on 16th October at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Both teams will look forward to getting their first win of the tournament. Sri Lanka lost their first two matches against South Africa and Pakistan respectively, and Australia lost their first two games against India and South Africa.