Clarke not concerned about criticism over his inability to clear boundary
By ANIThursday, February 24, 2011
MELBOURNE - Michael Clarke, who has hit three half-centuries on the trot to overcome the Ashes nightmare, is not concerned about the criticism over his inability to reach or clear the boundary as often as many of his teammates in the ODIs.
“After the lack of runs I scored in the summer I should be scoring runs [now]. It was a tough summer … Now, if I’m getting into a bit of nick, I want to make the most of it,” the Australia vice-captain said.
Clarke’s inability to reach or clear the boundary is highlighted by critics, but little credit is given to the right-hander’s knack of finding a way to rotate the strike.
Clarke’s unbeaten 58, made from just from 55 deliveries, was his second half-century made at better than a run a ball in succession. The key to the scoring rate in both innings, particularly the latter, was the lack of dot balls, The Age reports.
Against Zimbabwe, Clarke scored from all but 14 of his 55 deliveries, and never conceded any more than two dot balls in a row.
He said that innings was, minus a few boundaries, effectively a template of what he hoped to produce throughout the tournament.
“My role, batting at No. 4 in these conditions, is about consolidating through the middle. But I get the occasional opportunity [to bat for longer] when we lose a couple of wickets early. It’s just about doing whatever the team needs,” Clarke said.
“Everybody plays differently. We’ve got guys in our team who can hit a lot of boundaries. For me, my strength throughout my whole career has been running between the wickets, so if I can’t hit fours I try and hit ones and twos.
“As the innings goes on and you spend more time out there you can hit a few more fours. It also depends who you’re batting with. If you’re batting with a big hitter - a Cameron White or a David Hussey - my role might be to get off strike and get up the other end,” Clarke said. (ANI)
