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PUB: NT NEWS
Our
finest
hour
DATE: 31-MAR-2011 PAGE: 40 COLOR: C M Y K
THIS is the telling moment Australia
crashed through the mighty defence
of the German soccer team to set
the scene for a huge upset. Luke
Wilkshire’s successful 64th-minute
penalty strike gave Australia a 2-1
lead and that’s the way it stayed
in their friendly clash in Germany
yesterday. Report, Page 36
Picture: GETTY IMAGES
Pup’s dilemma
CRICKET
By ROBERT CRADDOCK
AUSTRALIAN fans must be
realistic about their expectations of Michael Clarke, a
captain whose standing
could be cruelly shaped by
forces beyond his control.
As is almost always the
case with Test captains, Clarke’s success will be governed
by the strength of his bowlers
and Australia now has its
weakest Test attack
for
25
years. With the
possible exception of Richie
Benaud (who
Michael Clarke
still had Alan
Davidson and himself) and
New Zealand’s Steve Fleming, national leaders do not
win reputations as great captains without having great
bowlers in their team.
Ian Chappell had Dennis
Lillee, Mike Brearley had
Bob Willis and Ian Botham,
Mark Taylor had McGrath
and Warne in their prime
and Clive Lloyd had many
fast bowling greats.
But it is Allan Border who
best proves the theory.
He was seen as a modest
captain when he had bad
bowlers but a ruthless, resourceful strongman when
he had good ones.
He actually didn’t change
much – he just found better
bowlers. ‘‘Pup’’ has ordinary
bowlers and will not be able
to the play the way he wants
to for the time being.
Like Shane Warne, he is
creative, adventurous, emotional and naturally aggressive yet he will spend a great
part his leadership career
scraping, clawing and conjuring wickets.
Unlike Steve Waugh, who
at times resembled the leader
of a tank brigade, such was
the depth of his bowlers.
Captains of bad bowling attacks must learn to be amateur psychologists with
patience by the bucketload.
It would test anyone - it
will certainly test him for he
is sensitive by nature.
As a youngster, Clarke’s
team-mates said he used to
whinge but he will need a
crocodile skin and the
patience of a chess champion
to do this job well. Captains
tend to get too much praise
when a side is doing well and
too much criticism when
they go badly.
Mary Poppins could have
captained teams with Warne
and McGrath to victory.
In contrast, Ricky Ponting
was nailed to the cross many
times in recent seasons but
the bowling attacks he had
could have been addressed
Continued Page 37
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SAINTS COULD
SPRING SURPRISE
SE
E
ANGEL’S RIDE
T
HEAVEN SENT
WOERNER
DOWN, NOT OUT
UT
40
NT NEWS. Thursday, March 31, 2011.
www.ntnews.com.au