Clarke backs Watson over ton drought

By James Maasdorp

Updated December 28, 2012 00:42:13

Australia captain Michael Clarke insists Shane Watson's long wait for a third Test century will end soon, after the all-rounder missed another chance to notch a big score.

Clarke (106) and Watson (83) shared in a superb 194-run partnership to put the hosts in a strong position on day two of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the MCG.

Australia finished the day at 8 for 440, with Mitchell Johnson plundering runs at the death with a stylish 73.

As it happened: Second Test, Day Two

Clarke surpassed Ricky Ponting's record of most runs by an Australian in a calendar year on his way to yet another century, but following his dismissal, Watson failed to kick on and was dismissed soon after.

After Clarke was caught at second slip, Watson succumbed to nerves to hit a careless pull shot to Thilan Samaraweera in the deep.

But Clarke says Watson was simply unlucky, and his long-awaited third Test ton is just around the corner.

"Watto doesn't need to change anything, he's batted really well today," Clarke told Grandstand.

"He was unlucky today, the pull shot's one of his strengths and unfortunately he's hit it straight down the guy's throat.

"Nine times out of 10, Watto hits that for four or six.

"Full credit to him, I thought he played really well and if he keeps batting like that, hundreds will come."

The Test captain said it was an honour to surpass Ponting's record of 1,544 runs in a calendar year.

"It's very special, I didn't know it at the time, I didn't know how many runs I needed," he said.

"To me Ricky Ponting's one of the all-time great players Australia's ever had, so to beat Ricky at anything is a fantastic achievement. I'm very proud."

Clarke spoke of his relief at scoring his first ton at the MCG and praised his side's overall batting performance, singling out Johnson for his late cameo.

"It's always nice to make runs and always nicer to make a century for Australia and put us in a pretty good position," he said.

"I thought the boys played really well today. Watson was outstanding, Mitchell Johnson was really good at the back end of the day.

"It's nice to get that monkey off my back, that's for sure. There was a little bit in the paper in the few days leading up to this Test making it clear that I hadn't scored a hundred [at the MCG].

"It's certainly something that's been on my mind for a while now considering it's a beautiful ground and I love playing in Melbourne. It's nice to finally have made a hundred here."

Following Clarke and Watson's quick dismissals, Matthew Wade (1) was out almost immediately as the Aussies endured a mini-collapse, before Michael Hussey (34) and Johnson steadied the ship with a 61-run partnership.

Hussey was dismissed spectacularly as he top-edged a Tillakaratne Dilshan delivery, only to see Rangana Herath pouch a diving one-handed screamer at deep midwicket.

The catches for the cameras continued as Peter Siddle (13) edged one to Jayawardene in the slips late in the day, with the Sri Lankan captain diving well to his left.

Sri Lanka's batting coach Marvan Atapattu praised the two catches, saying they will hopefully give his players some confidence ahead of their second innings.

"It was two fantastic catches. Hopefully the catches Mahela has taken will give him confidence when he comes out to bat the next time around," Atapattu told Grandstand.

"Herath has been really good in the outfield. You see the same person doing the same old thing again when he was here in January, his performance in the field has been very good."

He says the injury news remains bad for the tourists, with Prasanna Jayawardene nursing a bruised thumb and paceman Chanaka Welegedara straining a hamstring.

"Welegedera doesn't seem to be looking too good at the moment," he said.

"We have Prasanna Jayawardene ... having a bruised thumb, the X-ray shows a hairline fracture, so he probably won't take any further part in terms of wicketkeeping.

"But hopefully in terms of batting he'll contribute.

"We've got batsmen who have made big scores, batted for such a long time. I expect them to put up a good show."

Tags: cricket, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia, sri-lanka

First posted December 27, 2012 19:05:26

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Ponting eyes end to century drought

Updated December 03, 2011 09:02:23

Ricky Ponting will resume on day three looking to notch his first Test century in almost two years in the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba.

Starting the series under immense pressure, Ponting was Australia's second-day hero with a rearguard unbeaten 67 to lead the home side to 3 for 154 in reply to the Black Caps' 295.

The former skipper will resume with captaincy successor Michael Clarke (28 not out), after they both survived a nervous final half-hour before play was called off early for bad light on Friday afternoon.

Clarke played on from a Doug Bracewell delivery when he was on 23 but was given a reprieve when the third umpire detected a Bracewell no-ball.

Ponting was close to being out lbw to part-timer Dean Brownlie on referral when 63.

Ponting scored what seemed a career-saving 62 in last month's Johannesburg Test win over South Africa and has continued on with another crucial knock.

Now with 12,500 runs to his name, the Tasmanian last scored a century when he made 209 in January 2010 in Hobart against Pakistan.

Spinner Nathan Lyon said the Australians had never lost faith in Ponting, who came to the crease with the home side in trouble at 2 for 25.

"Ricky is one of the legends of the game," Lyon said.

"We've all got confidence in him and we're going to back him right until the end of the day.

"He's awesome so hopefully he can go on and make a big one tomorrow.

"We all know there's a lot of hard work to do, especially in the first hour tomorrow morning so it's going to be crucial for us but the game is definitely in the balance."

Australia has tried a dirty dozen slow bowlers since Shane Warne's retirement but surprise packet Lyon finally looks set to stop the spin cycle.

At a ground renowned as a fast-bowler's haven and one he had never even visited before the first Test, Lyon was an instant hit at the Gabba against New Zealand.

The South Australian off-spinner took 4 for 69 in New Zealand's first innings to be the most impressive of the home side's attack.

While his pace colleagues struggled, Lyon grabbed three on the second morning to clean up the Kiwi tail and return the best figures by an Australian finger-spinner in Brisbane for 80 years.

Not since left-armer Bert Ironmonger took 5 for 42 and 4 for 44 against South Africa in the Gabba's inaugural Test in 1931 has an orthodox slow bowler enjoyed the same success.

Lyon's effort was also the best by any off-spinner on the fast and bouncy track since Englishman John Emburey took 5 for 80 in the 1986-87 Ashes.

The 24-year-old made a mockery of Australia's initial temptation to use a four-prong pace attack and deny him his first home Test.

Called on in just the eighth over on the first day, he gained sharp turn and used good flight, changes of pace and bounce to pose plenty of questions to the batsmen.

While Lyon took 5 for 34 on debut against a reckless Sri Lanka at Galle just three months ago, his ability to prosper on the first two days in Brisbane, and the way he went about his business, spoke volumes.

"I was really happy with the way the ball was coming out of my hand," said the six-Test rookie, who was an unknown Adelaide Oval groundsmen 12 months ago.

"I felt like I was bowling quite well.

"I've been working pretty hard (in training) but in saying that there's still a lot of work to do on my bowling and I'm not going to settle until I get better and get more consistent."

That is music to the ears of the new five-man selection panel.

Since Warne's Test retirement five seasons ago, Australia has used and discarded 11 spinners who have rarely looked at home in the great man's shadow.

Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg also retired soon after, leaving Beau Casson, Dan Cullen, Jason Krejza, Nathan Hauritz, Bryce McGain, Cameron White, Xavier Doherty, Michael Beer and Stephen Smith to be tried and axed.

New Zealand's stalwart finger spinner Daniel Vettori gave his stamp of approval after battling with Lyon in his magnificent three-hour knock of 96.

"He looks like an aggressive spinner and that is what you want - a guy with the ability to take wickets," Vettori said.

"He got some bounce and turn, he flights it up and bowls the occasional quick one - it's not always easy to face."

AAP

Tags: cricket, sport, brisbane-4000, qld, australia, new-zealand

First posted December 03, 2011 08:37:48

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