Sunday 2 August 2015 19:22, UK
Australia batting coach Michael di Venuto has backed captain Michael Clarke to return to form in the remaining two Tests of the Investec Ashes series.
Clarke has managed just 94 runs in six innings with his side trailing 2-1 after England bounced back from a heavy defeat at Lord’s to win the third Test at Edgbaston by eight wickets inside three days.
The player himself has admitted his form needs to improve but Di Venuto has come to his defence, citing the example of England’s Ian Bell as a player who has rediscovered their touch in the middle after the Warwickshire batsman scored two half-centuries on his home ground.
"The skipper is a hard trainer and he's doing all the right things," Di Venuto told Cricket Australia's official website.
"I guess we saw it in this (third) Test match with Ian Bell - class is permanent.
"You don't lose your class. He (Clarke) is not scoring the runs that he would like at the moment but you don't play the amount of cricket that he has played not for something just to be around the corner.
"And we're quite confident that he'll come good in this series."
Clarke chipped in with just 13 runs at Edgbaston in a match where the majority of Australia's batsmen struggled for runs, as they were dispatched for just 136 in 36.4 overs on the first day to set the tone for the remainder of the match.
The middle order was again exposed in the second innings and Di Venuto feels their thought process was particularly poor.
"We have to be really precise with our decision-making, whether you're going to play or leave the ball, or attack the ball,” added Di Venuto.
"You certainly don't want to lose your intent to score because when there is a bad ball you want to be in a position to put it away.
"But as soon as the ball is released it's up to the batsmen to make a decision.
"We saw some indecision in a couple of our dismissals, a couple of bad shots, so again poor decision making, but there was some good bowling (by England) as well."
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