How many once in a generation players do Australia have at any one time, 4, maybe 5.
If Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson are once in a generation, then surely Michael Clarke isn't that all that once.
Is his 5 hundreds in 32 tests enough to bat at number 5 for Australia?
Apparently so.
What if 2 of those 5 hundreds came in his first 3 tests?
So that’s three hundreds in 29 tests.
An average of 43, not a lot for Australia’s top order.
That’s half the average of the King Probot Hussey, statistical anomaly that he is (proof of the matrix?).
Are the Australian selectors wooed by his pretty shots, and stunning footwork.
I know I have been before, but now I look beyond the physical, I'm looking for an emotional connection based on trust, and Pup is not giving it to me.
When Clarke walked to the wicket for his last 3 hundreds, Australia has been, 4/257, 4/357, and 3/216.
Not exactly a tight rope pressure cooker hot in the kitchen type situation.
The last 8 times Clarke has come to the wicket with pressure on (4 for less than 150, or 3 for less than 100) he failed to make a 50. Most times he has failed to make 20.
Yes I looked it up.
I do that from time to time.
I understand he has a hot missus, but so did Lyle Lovett, but that didn't really work out well for him.
When wickets are falling he never stops the flow.
Batting behind him as a man who no sober person ever thought would make a test cricketer, yet right at the moment he looks ten times more reliable than Clarke.
In fact on form he should definitely be batting ahead of him.
3 hundreds in 29 tests should not be enough to keep Future Pm David Hussey or the previous chosen one, the Crab Katich back into the side.
No one doubts that Michael Clarke could be a sensational batsman, but shouldn’t he be picked on runs on the board, not because pundits think he will take over as captain.
I may even be getting ahead of myself because he has made 3 tonnes in the last 8 tests, but since none of them were under wicket pressure it’s hard to rate them too highly.
Recently when he bats under pressure, even against Bangladesh, he fails.
I didn’t even know the play doh tigers knew how to assert pressure.
He would not be the first Australian batsman to be dropped for continuing to fail under pressure, whilst making runs when the pressure is off.
Dean Jones was another.
Symonds is finding his way, Gilly is nearing the end, and Brett Lee is not an all rounder, Australia cannot afford to carry any batsman.
His role as Ponting’s stuffed animal is vital, but we can get Ponting other toys to play with. Johnson perhaps, Ponting does like once in a generation toys, reminds him of his youth.
I hope he comes good, because in a world of probots he is a wonder to watch, but he doesn’t win matches and he doesn’t save them.
So the question would be, what does he do?
Anyone?www.cricketwithballs.com "the hooking & pulling specialists"
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