|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPMarch 7, 2015Michael ClarkeSYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES Q. Is there a team yet for tomorrow? MICHAEL CLARKE: No, I haven't got a team selected. Going to wait until tomorrow before they announce the 11 or pick the 11. Q. Is it a fitness thing, waiting to see how guys pull up? MICHAEL CLARKE: I have absolutely no ideas. I just walked in from the nets and asked Buff and Junior, and they said we're going to wait until tomorrow, so I don't know the exact I would imagine it's to see what the wicket is like tomorrow. Q. With Mitch Marsh, I know you said after the game the other day it wasn't a serious issue, but was there a problem with him at all coming out of that Perth game? MICHAEL CLARKE: I don't know the answer to that to be honest. I think he had some foot pain. He told me on the field it was his boot, so I assumed it was something to do with the foot. But as you've seen today, he's batted, he's bowled, he's done his fielding. I asked him how he was feeling when I walked off from my first bat, and he said, I'm flying, I'm ready to go. Q. Shane Watson having a lengthy bat out there alongside yourself, is there a chance he could come back and play as soon as tomorrow? MICHAEL CLARKE: I'm not a selector so I don't know the answer to that. Q. Just on the Watson issue, as well, obviously a lot of commentary around about it. I wonder what are your thoughts on that. MICHAEL CLARKE: Whatever 11 the selectors give me I think I'll get the best out of them. I think I made it pretty clear how I felt about what I wrote in my column today. He's a senior player on the team, he's a valuable member on and off the field, and I believe he's going to play a part, not just in this World Cup but for Australia for years to come, both on and off the field. Q. If he's in the team, what do you think is his best fit in the batting order, staying at 3 as he was, or is there more flexibility? MICHAEL CLARKE: Oh, I think he can bat anywhere. I think he's shown that at the top of the order he's been extremely successful. He averages over 40 in one day cricket. I think he's striking it about 90, as well, his strike rate. Yeah, I think he's skillful enough to bat anywhere in the order, but I think he's shown that he loves batting at the top in all forms of the game. Q. It's not unusual for you to have a long session in the nets, but was today in particular following on from that Afghanistan game where you didn't get a hit? MICHAEL CLARKE: Not really. Yeah, normal for me when I feel like I'm not hitting the ball as well as I'd like, I spend a bit more time there to make sure before I walk out of the net I feel good, and today that was the case. The second part was working on a bit of more technical stuff that I've been working on for a while. Yeah, it's getting there. Q. You mentioned you don't feel like you're hitting it so well. What are some of the issues? MICHAEL CLARKE: I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. Like I said, today I was a little bit out of sorts technically and that's why I did a bit of that drill stuff at the end. But no, look, I feel like I've hit the ball well in the games I've played, and hopefully when the team needs me, I'll be there to stand up and lead from the front. Q. Pat Cummins, is he any chance? MICHAEL CLARKE: He's not playing, not available for selection from the information I've just received for tomorrow's game. Q. Any frustration on your part not knowing the 11? MICHAEL CLARKE: Not really, no. I don't think it matters too much. I've always been a big believer in as soon as you know the 11, announce the 11, we have nothing to hide and the selectors are exactly the same as that. But I certainly understand and respect and know that they want to make sure that the wicket is no different tomorrow as to what it is today. And it doesn't make any difference to the team. The players are all prepared and ready to play. Now it's about the selectors will pick what they feel is the best 11 in these conditions against Sri Lanka, and we'll go with that, so I don't think it makes it's probably easier for you guys to know, but I don't think it makes a difference to the team. Q. Any news with the weather at all? MICHAEL CLARKE: I rang a friend the other day to find out what the forecast was, and he said there's no rain in Sydney whatsoever. I rang him this morning and said, you're a liar. (Laughter). Yeah, look, I think the forecast is pretty good. Fingers crossed. What will be will be. We can't control that. I've got enough to worry about without looking at the weather. Q. Steve Smith has made a pretty good fest of No. 3 in the one day games he's played. Do you think he'd be ready for that in Test cricket now? MICHAEL CLARKE: I'll worry about that when we have to play a test match. Yeah, my focus is these one dayers right now. Q. Your thoughts on the opposition, their batting seems to have clicked, and they've not been in Australia since winning the World Cup in 1996 in a World Cup game. MICHAEL CLARKE: That's good information, thank you. That's nice to know. Oh, I think they're a very good team. I think Sri Lanka has a very experienced team, a lot of players that have plated in World Cups before that have scored a lot of runs, taken a lot of wickets, they have a lot of experience, and I think in big tournaments that's what you need. I think they've shown throughout this tournament that they're in really good form and playing well. I think they've shown throughout World Cups that they're always going to be there or thereabouts. They seem to like World Cups. Yeah, tomorrow is a really important game for both teams, obviously, and a really good challenge for us to continue to drag the momentum we got from Perth into this game in Sydney, and a good challenge, I think. All the boys are up for tomorrow. We're excited. We're looking forward to it, but we know Sri Lanka is going to be really tough to beat. Q. You know this pitch probably as well as anyone. Have you had a look at it and does it look like the sort of batting wicket that South Africa made 400 on the other week? MICHAEL CLARKE: It looks like spin is going to play a part. It looks quite dry and certainly hasn't got as much grass on it as I've seen in past one day matches at the SCG. In saying that, that's today, so a day of sun, a bit of rolling, I think it might harden up. Hopefully it'll harden up, but I still think SCG in general, change of pace has always been a weapon. Generally spin plays a part, and it's a pretty big ground, as well. I think you'll see a pretty good wicket. But you have to play your best as a batter. Conditions are very different to what we've just seen in Perth, yeah, and I think it's a little bit different to what South Africa played on. Q. There's a feeling amongst a lot of the experts across India and across the world in general when we hear from them that Sri Lanka is not one of the favorites. What do you have to say about them? How high would you rate them? Would you consider them favorites at the World Cup? MICHAEL CLARKE: I think I've been asked every press conference who's the favourite, and I think it changes every day. Every press conference it changes. I think that sums up this World Cup. There's so many teams so close. Whoever is favorites is irrelevant in my mind. Whoever plays the best will win. Sri Lanka like I say have had a lot of success in World Cups and in big tournaments. They've got a lot of experience. They've got some world class players. They're going to be as tough as any team. If they play their best, they're always a tough team to beat. Q. I heard you grunting when you were batting right now in the nets and of course that's a normal frustration for any batsman when you miss a ball, but do you feel you're at least near about your best right now or do you think you're getting there? MICHAEL CLARKE: I feel I'm fitter touch wood, fitter and healthier than I've been in a long, long time. I have that hunger inside me to be successful and help Australia go as far as we possibly can in this World Cup. I've copped a fair bit of criticism over the past few months, so I'm excited about what lies ahead. I feel like I'm at my best. I'm ready to help this team have success. Q. Do you think the toss is very vital for this game? MICHAEL CLARKE: I really want to say no, it doesn't matter, but looking at the wicket today, if we had to play today, the toss would be crucial. But a day of sun on the pitch and a bit of rolling tomorrow might be a little bit different. Generally under lights the SCG the ball can skid on a little bit more. The outfield looks magnificent so I think it's going to be a fast outfield. It's just how much the wicket slows up, and that'll be dictated by how hard the pitch is tomorrow, I think. If we turn up tomorrow and the wicket is rock hard, I think it'll be a really consistent pitch for both teams. If it's still a little bit tacky like it is today, then I'd really want to bat first if I was playing today. Q. You have played quite a bit of cricket against Sangakkara. There's been quite a bit of chat between the two of you. Where do you rate him among the contemporary batsmen? MICHAEL CLARKE: He's certainly as good as any player I've played against. He's a wonderful batsman. His statistics show that in both test and one day cricket. He's an absolute gentleman, a lovely, lovely guy. Yeah, I think Kumar and Jacques Kallis are probably two guys I've looked up to and think that if they played for different countries, they would be they could quite easily be regarded as the best ever. But I think he's batted No. 3 his whole career, for a lot of his career in test and one day cricket. It's a really tough position. He's scored runs all around the world against some very good bowling attacks. I think he's a world class player. He's been No. 1 batter in the world for a long, long time. Q. Obviously this game has quite a lot on the end of it if you look ahead in terms of basically second position in the group, and for Australia your potentially semifinal draw. Do you try to avoid looking that far ahead or do you make it clear to everyone that there's a lot on the line? MICHAEL CLARKE: I think players know where we stand. We haven't spoken about it. We don't need to talk about it. Yeah, I think we have to be focused on tomorrow, and that's all right now. I think regardless who you play in the quarterfinal, you're up for a tough match. We know if we make the quarterfinals where that quarterfinal will be. Who we play against is irrelevant. We just need to continue to win every game we play or at least play our best, and if we get outplayed, we get outplayed. But yeah, I don't think it matters too much who you play in the quarterfinals. It's going to be a tough game. Q. What about the semi? MICHAEL CLARKE: Well, let's get to the semi first. Q. Emotionally, obviously the other boys have played here. You being back at the SCG, is there any feeling there, and how are you feeling, and do you think it'll come into your mind at all what happened here? MICHAEL CLARKE: It's in my mind every day. Doesn't matter where I play. I wear an arm band every game with Hughesy's initials on it. So yeah, I don't think it'll be any different this game to be honest. I think it's going to be the same for the rest of my career. I look forward to, like I say, walking back out on the SCG. I love playing here. It's a beautiful ground. It's my home ground. I look forward to getting a bat and hopefully scoring some runs, helping us have success. Q. There's a bit of a worry out there earlier with Craig McDermott. I imagine everyone is relieved that he seems to be okay? MICHAEL CLARKE: Yeah, I don't know exactly what happened. I was fielding at the time, and from the information I got, he was crook, but he was back out in the nets, so he's obviously doing pretty well now, thankfully, but I don't know to what extent, how sick he is. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|