Michael Clarke sees Ashes series as chance to become a master of revival

MICHAEL Clarke can sense, with England vulnerable, that this Ashes series is the great opportunity to define his captaincy.

STAND in the middle of the Adelaide Oval and it is still possible to remember how things once were. There, over long-off, is the Edwardian scoreboard beyond which Garry Sobers once hit a six off the back foot; over long-on, the Moreton Bay fig trees and, beneath them, the grassy mound where England's supporters will be massed tomorrow morning, contemplating the great revival.

Cricket-lovers might hope that the traditions of this great ground, and its beautiful surrounds, encourage less of the nastiness prevalent at the Gabba, without reducing the game's competitive edge.

Maybe that is a naive, forlorn hope in the modern game, although not according to Jeff Crowe, the match referee, who had formal chats with both captains before the game to remind them of their responsibilities.

As the local paper in Adelaide went to town on three England players enjoying themselves late at night, all of four days before a Test match and with a day off scheduled, there was no let-up in the hype and the nonsense.

There was a bona fide story in watching Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, hobble around the Oval yesterday.

He twisted an ankle three days before the match, batted for an hour and took full part in the fielding session on the same day, but was not present for Australia's practice two days out as the ankle swelled up again.

He insists that he will be ready to play. You get the feeling that it will take more than an ankle sprain or back spasm to drag Clarke away from the fray.

He regards this series as the great opportunity to define his captaincy, a chance to join the ranks of Ashes-regaining Australia captains and to draw a line under the confusion and controversies that threatened to swamp him during the recent tours to India and England.

Deep down, Clarke knew how important it was for his team to start this series well at the Gabba. It was noticeable in his demeanour before the first Test started. Normally engaging and sparky in press conferences, Clarke was grumpy, tetchy and unforthcoming. Of course, he could simply have got out of bed on the wrong side, but the impression was of a man feeling the strain and desperate for some good news.

There could have been another explanation: that Clarke had looked into the past, aligned his situation with that of the most recent Australia captain, Allan Border, to lead his team out of the doldrums and began to try to re-create history. Specifically, in the way that Border changed persona, from the losing Mr Nice Guy in 1985 to winning Captain Grumpy in 1989. If he wanted to be the man to lead Australia out of the doldrums, it was time to get nasty.There was not much of Border in the way Clarke was bombed out in the first innings in Brisbane, but there was in the way he was central to his team's domination in the second half of the game and, of course, in the way he became the story after his altercation with James Anderson at the end of the match.

The explanation put out on Clarke's behalf - that he was sticking up for a team-mate who had been sledged by Anderson - smacked of the pack mentality that Border instilled into his team from 1989 onwards. What is clear is that Clarke believes the tide is turning in his favour. "Obviously we've got some confidence and momentum from Brisbane, but we know it's a different wicket, we know England's a very strong side," he said.

"Ask me that [whether it is a turning point] in Sydney [after the fifth Test]. I feel like the boys have taken confidence from the way we performed in Brisbane, there's no doubt about that. I think us having the same squad of 12 again is a really nice feeling, and a lot of the guys are in good form."

Australia have been on message about Jonathan Trott and Clarke was the latest to reiterate his good wishes and hopes for a rapid recovery. Behind the smiles, though, Australia feel that England were rattled in Brisbane and are ready for the taking.

Despite its reputation as a batsman-friendly ground, Adelaide has produced plenty of results, nine of them in the dozen matches since the turn of the millennium. But the style of play is likely to be different from that witnessed at the Gabba. There will be less pace and bounce and the chance of some side-spin and reverse swing later in the game.

There will be periods of calm and of attritional cricket and, because wickets can be hard to come by, any poor session will be extra-costly.

All a far cry from the macho cricket that characterised play in the first Test, and more akin to the type of cricket to which England are temperamentally attuned. After going out on a limb to name England's team before the first Test, Clarke was reluctant to do the same here, although he said that he did expect England to play both spinners. They are in a selection quandary, and Alastair Cook admitted to giving "serious consideration" to playing both.

Regardless of whether two spinners play, England will not win without runs on the board and, as the statistic of not having scored 400 for 17 innings was thrown at him, Cook did not shy away from his team's failings.

"It is absolutely vital that we get a big first-innings score," he said. "Last week was simply not good enough."

To do that, they will have to cope far better with Mitchell Johnson, who has a fine record in Adelaide and is a different animal from the one who got into a row with Greg Chappell after being dropped for the corresponding fixture three years ago.

Cook played Johnson as well as anyone in the second innings and he encouraged his batsmen to remain calm, have a clear game plan and try to keep Johnson in the field for long periods, feeling that his spells later in the match should be less dangerous on a slower pitch.

It really is now or never for England's batsmen. The Australian public and media smell blood and the team feel that they have turned the corner.

You can feel the great surge of confidence in a country that is fed up of being beaten by England.

You could hear it in Clarke's voice, too.

The Times