Michael Clark warns England must win in Adelaide or be condemned to whitewash
FORMER Australian skipper Michael Clarke believes the second Ashes Test in Adelaide is a must win for England — warning that a loss will condemn the tourists to a 5-0 whitewash.
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MICHAEL Clarke says it’s Adelaide or bust for an unravelling England.
The captain who orchestrated the last Ashes whitewash believes another 5-0 thrashing is on the way unless Joe Root’s men can take advantage of the occasionally random nature of the day-night Test.
Clarke said at a charity event yesterday at Sydney’s Hyatt Regency Hotel that England were on the brink.
“I think England need to win in Adelaide,” he said.
“If they don’t win in Adelaide I think they’ll lose 5-0.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen says there is enormous pressure on England cricket supremo Andrew Strauss to make the right call on Ben Stokes, after losing credibility with his shambolic handling of the star all-rounder’s arrival in New Zealand.
The former Test batsman believes this Ashes series may prove make or break for Strauss’ administrative career.
Pietersen said he struggled at times to be play the pantomime villain, and fears for the reception Stokes would receive if he did venture to Australian shores.
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The former great famously fell out with his ex-captain Strauss, who rubbed Pietersen out for being bad for team culture.
That’s one of the reasons why Strauss is under such pressure to take heavy action against a player accused of assault.
Pietersen says it’s crunch time for Strauss.
“The big pressure here is on Andrew Strauss,” he said.
“I think he doesn’t have a lot of hair at the moment and I think this for one is going to be something where he’s going to lose sleep over, because I think this is a major, major decision.
“When you jump into the realm of being an international sportsman you have duties and you have unwritten rules and fighting in the streets is probably one of those real unwritten rules that you just are not allowed to do, you don’t do, you don’t get engaged in.
“I’m not going to be the one who passes judgment on whether he should or he shouldn’t play but Andrew Strauss has got an incredibly difficult decision here.
“You come to Australia like I’ve done on many an occasion with an England team, and you’re the pantomime villain, it’s not fun.
‘You get sprayed absolutely everywhere. Coming under that sort of scrutiny that he will travel under … to still try and perform in this area, would it be too much to ask for?
“He might have a good go at it, he might not and if he doesn’t, how badly will that reflect on the ECB?”
Meanwhile, Clarke has opened up to the Weekly Review about how badly he struggled to cope with the loss of Phillip Hughes – admitting he should have retired straight after his close mate’s death.
Clarke said he grieved alone in the West Indies in 2015, and found himself in tears most nights.
“I shouldn’t have played another game. My career should have stopped then. It was too hard for me,” he said.
“Going to the West Indies was probably the worst tour of my life in regards to how emotional I was.
“I was there on my own. Unfortunately Kyly [wife] couldn’t come because she was pregnant and we weren’t comfortable with her flying.
“I had six weeks in the West Indies … whatever we had on as a team during the day I would go back to my room every night and just cry myself to sleep.”
Originally published as Michael Clark warns England must win in Adelaide or be condemned to whitewash
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