Date:08/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/08/stories/2008100856172000.htm

Sport - Cricket

No individual targets, says Stuart Clark

Principal Correspondent

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

AIMING TO DO WELL: Stuart Clark expects to form a ‘shock and strike’ combination with Brett Lee.

Bangalore: Stuart Clark stressed that the Australian bowlers were looking at the Indian team as a whole and not just settling for individual targets. “We have really come here with a group mentality and target all the batters. We have got to take 20 wickets and try and win the Test match.

“We bowl with out targets in mind and what we are trying to do is not to focus on just one or a couple of individuals. They have some great players in their team and when you focus on one you tend to forget about the other ones.

“Maybe Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne found that it worked better for them,” Clark said when asked about why he and the other Australian bowlers have not named any batsman as target, a tradition set by McGrath.

Indian conditions

The Australian seamer spoke to the media after his team finished their practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday afternoon. On the Indian conditions, Clark said: “You don’t get a lot of love back from the wicket. You just got to be patient and bang it in there all day.

“I think Michael Kasprowicz did it well here in 2004 and we all know stories about how he lost eight kilograms,” added Clark.

And on the Harbhajan Singh factor while playing the Indian spinners, Clark said: “We have come with an idea of what we need to do as a team. Mathew Hayden and the batters have so far done an excellent job and they know what to do.”

Clark also dwelt on the ‘shock and strike’ combine that he expects to form with Brett Lee.

“Lee has that shock value because he really does bowl fast. I will do the other sort of stuff where from one end I would try and build it up and get some wickets.

“That would be our ploy no matter where we are playing. I just run in there and do the more consistent stuff and he is the guy who would exploit that. I hope I get to take the new ball.

“I think we would probably be going in with a normal attack, quick bowlers, one spinner and a couple of guys who part-time bowl spin,” Clark said.

Clark said the Australian team has been getting used to the SG ball that will be used in the series. “It is a little different because of the seam. It seems to get softer quicker than the kookaburra.

“But it is something we have been practising since we have been here. But at the end of the day, a cricket ball is a cricket ball and you still need to put it in the right areas,” Clark said.

On the tour so far, Clark said, “Jaipur was good because we got acclimatised to the conditions. Hyderabad was also good because we got to play a competitive game on a wicket that didn’t really suit the quicker bowlers.

As for the pitch here for the first Test, Clark said: “It looks like a very good cricket wicket. There is a little more grass than I thought there would be on it. All in all, I think its going to make for a good Test match.”