James McKeown
Lara, A Body Blow For The Aussies?
March 3rd 2010 03:11
The First One Day International between Australia and New Zealand gets under way later today but the main talking point leading in to this clash hasn't been on the cricket. But instead on Michael Clarke's soon-to-be-wife Lara Bingle and 'that' picture which has caused a massive stir.
This could lead to a loss of focus for the team, being constantly asked about matters others than cricket and could help New Zealand in their quest to win the Chappell- Hadlee trophy. However, I beg to differ from this view, while I believe that the media interest will have had an impact on the Australians I doubt they will collapse as a result of it. quite the contrary in fact, i believe the Australians will be even more determined, especially Micheal Clarke to have people talking about cricket rather than his personal life.
Keep an eye out for Clarke to contribute heavily with the bat when Australia faces the Black Caps attack. There have been many instances of Australian's playing well when stuff in their personal life could have affected their performance. Adam Gilchrist's double century in South Africa (the second fastest ever) when a web site published allegations about the legitimacy of his daughter and Shane Warne's all-round feats during the 2005 Ashes series when his marriage was going through a very public split are both examples of this. The list goes on, and expect Michael Clarke to join this list when he takes apart the New Zealand attack.
As a post script, I mentioned in a previous post that Australia would be expected to brush past the Kiwis but after the second Twenty20 it would seem that the Aussies will have a fight on their hands in this Chappell-Hadlee series. However the Test Matches are a different ball game all together.
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