James McKeown
Another Win But Is Clarke in Our Best Twenty20 XI?
February 27th 2010 07:08
Well as just about everybody on earth thought, Australia blew New Zealand off the park in the first Twenty20 match which also marked the start of the Aussie's tour of New Zealand.
Leading the way were the usual suspects in Johnson (3/19), Tait (2/21) and Nannes (2/22). The three quicks had the Black Caps reeling and they never really recovered. But it is not a fore gone conclusion that this will be the team to represent Australia in the Twenty20 World Championships. Micheal Clarke was not out on 18 which is a good effort, but it took him 26 balls to do so, a strike rate at of 69.23. This is not what is required of a International Twenty20 player.
While his form in the shorter form leaves a lot to be desired his captaincy does not. He was born to led men into battle in this 'hit first think later' form of cricket. His energy and tactics in this pressure cooker situation is outstanding and everyone on the team feeds off it and it has helped younger kids find their feet in the team, most notably Stephen Smith.
However, Clarke needs to step up his batting because there are plenty of candidates that could take his place. Leading that charge is James Hopes, who staked a claim for a birth in the Twenty20 with his 50 off 26 balls in the last one day match against the West Indies. So am I well off the mark or should we move on from Clarke despite his captaincy skills? Let me know.
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