Voges could miss out at Trent Bridge, says Punter
Friday 31 July 2015 19:08, UK
Michael Clarke must not move from the No 4 berth to try and fix his and Australia’s batting woes, Ricky Ponting told Sky Sports.
Clarke has notched just 94 runs in the three Ashes Tests so far at an average of 18.80 and saw his side sink to scores of 136 and 265 all out in the third game against England at Edgbaston.
The 34-year-old intimated in the post-match presentation that he may be prepared to slip to No 5 – a place where he averages 61.83 in Test cricket, as opposed to 30.89 a spot higher.
"If Clarke doesn’t bat at four I think it sends a bad message out of the Australia dressing room."
But former Australia skipper Ponting says the current captain needs to stick where he is if the Baggy Greens are to battle back in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, from August 6.
"If Clarke doesn’t bat at four I think it sends a bad message out of the Australia dressing room," said Ponting after the tourists’ crushing eight-wicket loss in Birmingham.
"I don’t think there is a major difference in the positions other than mindset so he needs to forget his record at No 5, score runs and take pressure off the younger middle order.
"He will be in the nets quickly but getting your rhythm back happens in the middle as the extreme pressures of Ashes cricket are hard to replicate in practice.
"It will only take a good 20 or 30 for Clarke to turn things around."
Ponting does feel, though, that Adam Voges could miss out at Trent Bridge, a ground the middle-order man knows well from a stint with Nottinghamshire between 2008 and 2012.
The 35-year-old, who debuted for Australia against West Indies in June, has notched only 73 runs in five Ashes innings and fell to a first-ball duck second time around at Edgbaston.
Shaun Marsh would appear to be the obvious replacement should Voges be dropped, having amassed two tons in Ashes warm-ups versus Kent and Derbyshire.
"There will be a similar conversation around Voges as there will be around Adam Lyth for England," said Ponting.
"We know he made a hundred a few Tests ago but he looks to me like he is struggling with the pressures of Ashes cricket.
"Marsh has scored runs in every tour game and played most of his domestic cricket at No 5 recently [even though he has been opening for Australia]."
Nasser Hussain, meanwhile, wants to see Australia, who won the second Test at Lord’s by a whopping 405 runs, to display more resolve when the Ashes resumes on Thursday.
But the former England skipper says the tourists’ hopes of retaining the urn they claimed back with a whitewash in 2013-14 will be all-but over if Clarke’s problems continue.
"I was disappointed by the mental toughness shown by Australia in this Test," added Hussain. "I thought there would be far more application.
"It was a perfectly fine pitch and if Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon could bat the way they did, the Aussie batsmen must be thinking: ‘We’ve just not been good enough in this game.'
"However, I don’t think Australia can win the Ashes if Clarke doesn’t return to form - he is that buffer, whether that is at No 4 or No 5."
Watch the fourth Ashes Test from Trent Bridge from 10am on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Ashes HD. You can also watch the fourth Test with a NOW TV Sports Day Pass. Plus, our Ashes Events Centre - the best of Sky Cricket's analysis at your fingertips - is available on our iPad app.
