White defends resting of Clarke, Watson for final ODI against England

MELBOURNE - All-rounder Cameron White, who will captain Australia for the first time in a one-day international in Perth against England on Sunday, has defended the resting of Michael Clarke and Shane Watson for the final ODI.

The Twenty20 captain and long-time skipper of Victoria will lead a team minus batsmen Clarke and Watson, who have been given time off to prepare for the World Cup, with Adam Voges and Jason Krejza brought in as their replacements.

“I can understand the disappointment (of fans), but at the same time the public and everyone else has to understand that they’ve had five Test matches, six or seven one-day games and a couple of Twenty20s leading into such an important tournament like the World Cup,” FOX Sports quoted White, as saying.

“That means that they deserve an opportunity to freshen up after basically playing all summer. That will make sure that they are ready to go for biggest one-day competition in the world so it’s a pretty smart thing that they are freshening up for this game,” he said.

White also brushed off talk that Brett Lee wouldn’t play due to injury. “We haven’t finalised the side yet, but as far as I know I’m pretty sure Brett Lee’s not injured,” he said.

“I’m confident this team can still win for sure. We are in good form, the bowling group is pretty much the same and the guys who are coming in is a good thing for this game. It’s a bit of a fresh outlook and we can go out with a bit of freedom to just give it a crack,” he said. (ANI)