Australian skipper Michael Clarke is happy with the performance of his team in the couple of warm-up matches before the all-important first test of Ashes Series which starts on Wednesday at Nottingham. Australian team did well to win their opening match of Ashes tour by six wickets against Somerset and continued the good form to draw the four-day warm up game against Worcestershire that ended on Friday.
Clarke was quoted by Times of India saying, "Both tour games have been outstanding for us. Every player has had a good hit out in the middle, both batters and bowlers. Regarding our preparation everyone is just about as ready as they can be with two days of practice in Nottingham.”
Questions were raised on his batting form as was ruled out of international cricket for quite a sometime but he cleared the air with his impressive knock of 124 runs off just 98 balls in the second innings against Worcestershire. But he is feeling good more about the time that he had in the middle rather than the amount of runs he scored.
He was quoted by the Hindu saying, "More than the runs, I think the time in the middle was crucial. I've been slowly building up time at the center and it's always nice to make a hundred in any form of the game. I think I am getting back to full batting form, which is nice."
The 32-year-old threw some more light on his constantly improving fitness level which made his comeback possible. He is now even ready to roll his arm over if his team needs that badly in the upcoming Ashes series. "My fitness levels are improving day by day. My whole body though has been a little stiff for the last couple of days. I'm getting used to four-day cricket now and in general I'm feeling really good. Regarding my bowling, I did not roll my arm over due to my back. I hope I'm not required to bowl in the Ashes but if need be I'll be able to roll my arm over," he added.
He is not sure about his batting position despite batting at no.4 in the recently concluding warm-up game. He said, "Not sure where I'll bat in the order, I'll have to wait and see what playing XI the selectors give and depending on that my position will be decided. Sure, I've got some success batting at No.5 for the last two years but I never said that I prefer to be at No.5. I've batted my whole career at No.4 in first class cricket. I'll bat wherever it suits the team and this match will be no different."
