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Brydon Coverdale
October 14, 2011
Michael Clarke passed his first examination as Australia's captain by leading the side to a series victory in Sri Lanka, but he knows repeating that success in South Africa will be a major challenge. Clarke flew out of Sydney on Friday to join the squad ahead of the three ODIs and two Tests, after Cameron White's Twenty20 side kicked off the trip with a victory in Cape Town on Thursday.
And while that was an encouraging start, it's the Test matches that Australia really need to win as they attempt to climb back up the Test rankings, having risen from fifth to fourth following the Sri Lankan trip. Clarke's men will take comfort from their success in South Africa in 2008-09, when they took the series 2-1 under Ricky Ponting. Beating the second-ranked South Africans again would be a wonderful achievement for a developing side.
"South Africa is a very difficult in any form of gambling - particularly in your own backyard, then [the victory] will be a great success," Clarke told reporters in Sydney "We have to be at our best against them. South Africa , players know individually and as a team, we learned to fly with the bat and the ball on the floor. We must be as good as we can be to win this series one day and expect to win the test series. "
The test team has not been named, but offspinner Nathan Lyon will play a key role in the series after a good start to his international career in Sri Lanka, where he took five hoops debut in the first innings at Galle. Clarke believes Lyon - who played only eight first class matches - will be an important man in the coming months as Australia against South Africa, New Zealand and India in the series of tests, but also emphasized the need to manage their workload .
"It 'a great talent, as I thought before going to Sri Lanka, and saw him bowl has a nice shape of the hand, has received a lot of natural variation, the great change of pace," said Clarke. "He is young and inexperienced, though, and it will take time, and we need to take care of him now and he was to build a series in South Africa. I hope I can contribute to the practice game, but with a summer And very early in Australia ... 'to him.
"His body was tired at the back of the series in Sri Lanka with three Test matches back-to-back, plus a set of tour. We must keep an eye on him, but it is a immense talent, and I hope he will play a major role in Australian cricket. "
And while Australia has a busy period, with some players on their way to the Champions League T20 after the tour of Sri Lanka, South Africa will have to shed their rust after a long layoff, who played all tests since January. Clarke said the long stretch of South Africa without cricket, and a finger injury AB de Villiers, Australia would help, but he thought that they begin to find their key in the ODIs, which begins in Centurion, the Wednesday.
"The T20-dayers and help them get the momentum as a team, although there will be some changes in the test team," he said. "I think AB de Villiers is a great loss to them, and with his injury. I think there should be full of confidence after their victory in Sri Lanka, but that they play in your own backyard. It will be a great challenge for us. They are a great team and are always difficult to beat. "
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