Michael Clarke has dismissed suggestions that his Australia side are too old to win a series in England for the first time since 2001. Last week the former Australia pace bowler Jason Gillespie, an Ashes winner himself and now coach of Yorkshire, labelled the visitors’ squad a “dad’s army”, containing as it does two 37-year-olds in Brad Haddin and Chris Rogers, a 35-year-old bowler in Ryan Harris, and Clarke himself, who is 34 and has a long history of back trouble.
But at his first press conference of the tour, following team training at Merchant Taylors’ school near Watford, Clarke hit back at his former international colleague who at one time had been tipped to become head coach of England, a job that has gone instead to the captain’s former coach at New South Wales, Trevor Bayliss. “Jason’s entitled to his opinion,” Clarke said. “Join the queue. I’ve copped criticism my whole career. There’s a long list of people who’ve criticised this team. We might just add ‘Dizzy’ to that list of people we continue to prove wrong.”
Clarke also played down the idea that the appointment of Bayliss, whom he knows well, gives England an extra advantage in the forthcoming series which starts in Cardiff on 8 July. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Not these days. Maybe when I first started my career, but not now with all the information and technology you can get on every player. If you’re smart you know every player’s strengths and weaknesses that you play against. And if you’re smart you know your own as well.
“I think Trevor is a lovely guy and I wish him all the best. I think he’ll be great for England and for any team he coaches. He’s coached me a long time for New South Wales. I think he’ll bring the best out of the England players. It doesn’t matter [to us] that he is an Australian coach. You see so many players playing with and against each other with the different formats around the world these days, and the same with coaches.
“Trevor coached Sri Lanka for a few years and had success there. He came back to New South Wales and now he has an opportunity with England, so I think it is great for the game and it shows a lot of respect for him that England have opened their arms and welcomed him in. He deserves that because his results certainly show how good a coach he is.”
Paul Farbrace, the interim England head coach, meanwhile, sees no reason why Eoin Morgan cannot make a return to Test cricket after rediscovering his best form in the thrilling one-day series win against New Zealand.
Morgan, who has been a limited-overs specialist since winning the last of his 16 Test caps in 2012, endured a poor World Cup as a captain and batsman, but led with distinction in the 3-2 victory over Brendon McCullum’s tourists.
Asked whether the 28-year-old could be considered for a recall in whites following Saturday’s three-wicket win that sealed the series, Farbrace replied: “Absolutely. It’s a way of getting into the Test side by playing international cricket.
“The reason we’ve played Ben Stokes in this one-day side is because the more he plays international cricket, the better for him – and that applies to everybody. They should all want to play Test cricket, and if they keep putting in performances they’ll be getting very close to it. There’s absolutely no reason why Morgan can’t play Test cricket.”
New Zealand’s tour-ending Twenty20 international at Old Trafford on Tuesday will be Farbrace’s final match in charge before he returns to the role of assistant under the incoming Bayliss. The team’s first interaction with their Australian head coach will come on a four-day camp in Spain, starting on Saturday, in readiness for their final preparations for Cardiff from 8 July.
