Australia captain Michael Clarke has said that while the loss in the first Test to Pakistan was disappointing, it was important not to get carried away with the defeat
Brydon Coverdale in Abu Dhabi29-Oct-2014If the past year has been one of joy and triumph for Michael Clarke, the past week has been all about perspective. Clarke was disappointed after the loss to Pakistan in Dubai and believes his men can level the series when the second Test starts in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. But he seemed to be in a philosophical frame of mind straight after the loss and again on the eve of the second Test.An Ashes clean sweep followed by a trip to South Africa to beat the No.1 Test team in the world gives a man a sense of perspective. One loss to Pakistan on a slow pitch is not Australia’s nadir; that came in India early last year when they were crushed 4-0. Perhaps Clarke will change his tune should Abu Dhabi present a repeat of Dubai, but for the time being he believes it is important not to get carried away with one loss.”It depends on if you’re trying to sell a paper or not,” Clarke said. “If you’re trying to sell a newspaper, it’s an absolute disaster and you’ll mention India. If you’re part of the Australian cricket team then you’ll look at the last 12 months and how well we’ve played and accept that we’ve lost a game. I think we need to be realistic and respect that we’ve played some fantastic cricket over the past 12 months.”No doubt it was disappointing to lose that second Test in South Africa as well. But the way we bounced back was extremely important and I think this Test is the same. I don’t think we should get too caught up in the fact we lost the Test. Like I’ve said since I’ve been captain, the most important thing is you learn from that. I’ve always seen sport as someone wins and someone loses.”It would be easy to view Clarke’s comments as an indication of complacency, but that would be an unfair assessment of the attitude around the group. On Tuesday, the squad had an optional training session in Abu Dhabi but the only men who claimed the choice of a rest day back at the hotel were the fast bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle, whose workload in the first Test justified a break.The rest hit the nets to work on their game and it was notable that Clarke, who fell cheaply to spin in both innings in Dubai, spent a long centre-wicket practice session batting without his front pad against Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe and Steven Smith. Clarke was far from alone in the method, which is intended to encourage a batsman to watch the ball closely and ensure he gets bat on ball.”I do it a lot against spin,” Clarke said. “I normally take both pads off but I only took one because I was a bit lazy, I was going to go and face some fast bowlers so rather than put them both back on I only had to put one on. I took my front pad off. I do that a lot against spin, just to make me use my bat and get my feet into a good position.”I speak a lot to the guys about facing spin bowling. I’ve got a number of drills that I do for myself to help me move my feet and work on my balance. I’ve spoken to them and showed them that over the years. A lot of them do some of that. There were a few of the boys batting without pads on today.”In Dubai it was not so much the big-turning deliveries that troubled Australia’s batsmen, but more the balls that did not spin. Zulfiqar Babar claimed seven wickets for the match, mostly with deliveries that skidded on. Clarke’s first view of the pitch in Abu Dhabi persuaded him that the surface may in fact spin less than the one in Dubai, but he believes low bounce will be a major factor.”The wicket looks pretty good,” Clarke said. “Just batting in the two side wickets it seems like I think this wicket is going to stay a bit lower as the game goes on, more than spin. I don’t think it’ll spin as much as Dubai. I think it’s going to be more lack of bounce. The plans don’t really change in regards to our bowling. I think we’ve got to be really disciplined with our execution.”Batting, again it’s going to be hard to start. Reverse-swing is going to play a part. And because the ball is staying low you’ve got to fight yourself – in Australia it’s good, consistent bounce so especially at the start of an innings you can play off the back foot a lot more. Here I think we’ve got to try and force ourselves to get forward to prevent the lbw. That’s to the quicks. To the spin, like we’ve spoken about, using our bat more.”Clarke said Australia had not yet settled on a line-up but, if his assessment of the pitch is correct and there is less spin than in Dubai, there could be a chance of a third fast bowler – Mitchell Starc or Ben Hilfenhaus – coming into the side at the expense of one of the spinners. However, an unchanged side would not be surprising.