Last updated: 15th August 2008
Clark dismisses Pietersen at Melbourne in December 2006
Kevin is good at making statements.
Stuart Clark
Quotes of the week
Australian seam bowler Stuart Clark has welcomed England captain Kevin Pietersen's promise of a bold approach in next year's Ashes series.
Pietersen declared that his side would reclaim the urn next summer if they can replicate the form shown while dispatching South Africa in the fourth Test at the Oval, his first match in charge since succeeding Michael Vaughan.
Clark commended the new England skipper - who he has played with at Hampshire - for delivering such an aggressive statement of intent.
"Kev is very good with that sort of stuff. Kevin is a very forthright person, he has very strong opinions he believes in," Clark said in Sydney on Thursday.
"It's going to be a big series, it was a big series out here last time and it will be a huge series when we go there.
"That's the rivalry that cricket needs to thrive in the longer version, not just Twenty20.
"Cricket needs that controversy and excitement between two countries."
Australia were beaten 2-1 over five Tests on their last tour of England in 2005 but won the return series 5-0 on home soil in 2006-07
"We haven't lost many Test matches since 2005, so if form is anything to go by we've probably got them," Clark added.
"Kevin is good at making statements. He truly believes it. Good luck to him.
"If he's thinking about cricket in one year, I would have thought he'd want to worry about what's happening in the next few months.
"But he's the new captain and full of bravado. If he loses a few Tests we will see if he's still saying something then."
| Fixture |
|---|
| Friday 5th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| Middlesex vs Pretoria |
| IPL Jaipur vs Sialkot |
| Tour Match |
| TBC vs England |
| Saturday 6th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| Pretoria vs Victoria |
| Natal vs Western Australia |
| Middlesex vs IPL Chennai |
| Sunday 7th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| IPL Jaipur vs Western Australia |
| IPL Chennai vs Pretoria |
| Natal vs Sialkot |
| Monday 8th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| TBC vs TBC |
| Result |
|---|
| Sunday 30th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 19 runs. |
| Friday 28th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets. |
| Test Match Series |
| Australia vs New Zealand Australia won by an innings and 62 runs. |
| Wednesday 26th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| India vs England India won by 6 wickets. |
| Test Match Series |
| South Africa vs Bangladesh South Africa won by an innings and 48 runs. |
| Monday 24th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 5 runs. |
| Sunday 23rd November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| India vs England India won by 19 runs. |
| Saturday 22nd November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets. |
| Thursday 20th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets. |
| India vs England India won by 16 runs. |
Nasser Hussain says England's return to India sends a strong message of support to India's people.
Bumble is ready to fly out to India again - and says it's time to move on for the sake of the victims.
Brendon McCullum keeps ahead of the pack in the Sky Sports International Sixes League.
India have announced their 15-man squad for the scheduled two-Test series against England in December.
Kevin Pietersen is confident the Test series in India will go ahead, but a final decision will be made on Sunday.
Chaminda Vaas has been recalled to the Sri Lanka Test team to face Bangladesh, but was left out of the one-day squad.
Yorkshire's Adil Rashid has been added to the England performance squad travelling to Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Middlesex will follow England's lead in not forcing any of its players to travel to India for the Champions League Twenty20.
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