Michael Clarke glad that Ricky Ponting and Australian team accept him as a captain

Michael Clarke said that he was happy with the way the former skipper Ricky Ponting and other team-mates accepted him as captain during the recently concluded One-Day tour of Bangladesh.

The tour was Ponting’s first international series under another captain in seven years. During his tenure, he led his side to two consecutive World Cup wins and in his third mega event campaign as a captain, he failed to clinch the title. In the tournament, the Aussies faced an ouster at the hands of India during the quarter-final stage.  As a result, the veteran stepped down from the post, and his deputy Clarke took over the responsibility of the captaincy.

In Clarke’s view, Ponting has still much to offer the Australian team with his batting and experience. The newly appointed skipper also said that Ponting handed over the post to him with a large heart.

"Both of us spoke openly daily, we enjoyed it and I certainly see Ricky playing a big part not only in my captaincy, but the other guys in the team and their development," Clarke said.

Clarke also stated that Ponting did not have the stress of leading the team on his shoulders and can fully concentrate on his batting and helping his team-mates. He has had significant performances in the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh. After 30 years, Ponting is the first Australian skipper, who has continued playing even after standing down from the captaincy.

The Bangladesh series was Clarke’s first as a full-time captain, where he led his side to 3-0 victory over Bangladesh. Almost all the players proved productive under Clarke’s leadership and gave useful performances.

Clarke had earlier led the Australian team 43 times in all formats of cricket, before taking the full-time responsibility as captain. The 30-year-old said that he did not feel any risk at consulting Ponting during matches.

"You're always asking other players for ideas and what their thoughts are on the field. He was there in Bangladesh when I needed him,” said Clarke.

Clarke said that he advised his team-mates to feel free to ask anything or to give ideas in favour of the team. After the Bangladesh tour’s success, the skipper said that he wanted to use the long off-season break to make the Australian team mentally and physically prepared so that they could turn out to be a top ranked team. He also added that he will utilise this time in evaluating his own and the team’s performance for the past 12 months. He also showed his interest in giving ideas to Cricket Australian in their review, which was planned in the wake of the 2010 Ashes defeat.

The Australian team will tour Sri Lanka in August, which includes One-Day matches as well as Tests.

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MICHAEL HUSSEY DETERMINED TO CONTINUE HIS INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Australia’s Michael Hussey has recently stated that he has no intentions to retire from International cricket.

Hussey, who strongly urged the former captain Ricky Ponting to continue playing even after stepping down from the post, said that he will keep on playing for as long as he could, even under the captaincy of Michael Clarke.

"It took me so long just to get one game, I think it took over 10 years, so I want to try to play as many games as I possibly can," Hussey said.

Hussey while talking about the Australian team said that it has nice combination of experienced and talented young players. While favouring the presence of Ponting in the team, Hussey stated that Ponting is one of the world’s best batsmen and a key member of the team.

Hussey commented that he got a tremendous amount of inspiration from the Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who have been giving splendid performances in cricket for the last couple of years.

Tendulkar, the 37-year-old cricketer, holds a number of world records in his long career and still maintains an exceptional batting form. He has also been a vital part of the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2011, won by India.

Hussey had two important targets, the first one is the Ashes and the second was the World Cup. Unfortunately he was not included in the recently concluded mega event, but later was called into the squad to replace Doug Bollinger who sustained an injury during the tournament.

"When I was actually able to go over and play in the World Cup, I was quietly quite proud really, because it took a lot of hard work to get myself back into a fit state," Hussey said.

Currently Australian team is playing a three-match One Day International series against Bangladesh. The Aussies are leading the series 2-0, while the third match will be played between the two teams today at Dhaka. In the first match, Hussey scored 33 runs off 51 balls including one four.

After the completion of this tour, Australia will tour Sri Lanka in August. The left-handed batsman said that he has never been to Sri Lanka and that he is ready to give his best for the team and his goal is to put in a good performance on the field.

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JAMIE SIDDONS FEELS WC 2011 MEMORIES HAUNTED HIS SIDE AGAINST AUSTRALIA

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Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons feels ICC World Cup 2011 memories haunted his side against Australia

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons feels his team might have been haunted by the bad memories of the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2011 as the hosts failed to chase Australia’s 270-run total in the opening One Day International of the three-match series.

The Bengali Tigers, while chasing a gettable 270-run total, fell 60 runs short of their target.

“It's difficult; 58 and 78 [against West Indies and South Africa in the ICC World Cup 2011] were really playing on the batsmen's minds,” said Siddons while talking to the media reporters. “Particularly once we lost No. 2, 3 and 4; the memory banks kick in pretty quickly for our guys.”

In an attempt to set a platform for the chase, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan- the two hard-hitting batsmen of the home side- played one of the most cautious innings of their careers. Tamim, who was recently named as Wisden’s cricketer of the year, compiled 62 runs off 89 balls while the skipper Shakib took 90 balls to score 51.

“Shakib didn't really have a lot of answers for me when he came off as to why they went so slow, other than the wicket was very difficult. I didn't like the running between wickets, didn't like them walking between wickets,” said the Bangladesh coach.

He also rued the decision of taking the batting Powerplay after 45 overs and said that they should have taken the third Powerplay when the two experienced batsmen Tamim and Shakib were on the crease.

Siddons admitted that his side lacks experience. He added that the current Bangladesh team does not have any Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting or Kumara Sangakkara to guide them.

Siddons’ term with the Bangladesh cricket team ends at the end of the ongoing three-match series and he will be informed about his future with the side by Monday following a board meeting.

The next match of the series will be played at the same venue on Monday, 11 April, 2011.

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