Time for Clarke to play a leading role
In the Age , Peter Roebuck writes that Michael Clarke, who will captain Australia if Ricky Ponting is not fit for the fourth Test, still has much to learn about leadership.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In the Age, Peter Roebuck writes that Michael Clarke, who will captain Australia if Ricky Ponting is not fit for the fourth Test, still has much to learn about leadership.
Perhaps responsibility will be his making. Until then the middle-order man had been singularly unimpressive. Convinced that the pitch was a stinker, and inclined to voice his opinions even in the presence of youngsters, he had lashed away with the bat in a manner unbecoming a senior batsman. Happily Mike Hussey was not as easily cowed or else the Ashes might already be back in England's safekeeping. A leader cannot afford to give any sign of despondency.
Roebuck, this time in the Independent, says confrontational, attacking cricket from Australia helped them level the series in Perth.
Robert Craddock writes in the Courier-Mai that Australia's rotation of their fast bowlers could be a decisive factor in the Ashes.
Just after play on Saturday I did a lap of the WACA and saw England's bowlers leaving after their main duties in the Test had ended. They looked like men who needed a cold beer and a desert island. Steve Finn was walking like a man wearing high heels. He looked exhausted. Jimmy Anderson seemed to be limping. Even the cocky Graeme Swann had a face of stone.
In the Australian, Malcolm Conn hails an unsung contributor to the WACA Test.
For all the great performances in this match, most notably Mitchell Johnson's transformation from chump to champ in the space of a few net and fitness sessions, the person who deserves the most credit is curator Cam Sutherland. He has spent five years nursing the WACA Ground's once renowned wicket back to life. Hard, fast and true for decades, it became a neglected pudding which was handed to Sutherland for resurrection.
In the Guardian, Vic Marks says Australia might want to include a spinner for the MCG Test, despite dismantling England with four quicks in Perth.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here