Cricket-Aussie batsmen must stand up in Ashes series

By Nick Mulvenney

SYDNEY, May 15 (Reuters) - Australia's pace bowling unit will give the tourists every chance of success in the Ashes series in England but will not be able to win back the precious urn without some help from the batsmen, captain Michael Clarke said on Wednesday.

Clarke said the Australians would relish going into the series in July and August as underdogs and that, if fit, pacemen Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Jackson Bird would cause England real problems.

"We've got a good attack, there's no doubt about it. The squad of quicks we have is a really good combination. They gel well together, they're all a little bit different," he told reporters at North Sydney Oval after the announcement of a sponsorship deal with Commonwealth Bank.

"But as batters, we've got to put runs on the board. There's no point in giving our bowlers 150 runs to bowl at. As batters, we have a huge responsibility to make sure we're getting 350, getting 400, putting those runs on the board.

"I'm very confident that if we can choose the best attack, we can have some success over there."

The batting might prove to be the hard part as, Clarke's own prolific scoring aside, Australia have frequently struggled for runs over the last year or two and have lost Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey to retirement in the last few months.

The nadir came with the 4-0 series loss in India in February and March, which made England even stronger favourites to keep the Ashes they won at home in 2009 and retained with a 3-1 drubbing in Australia in 2010-11.

"Like all the boys, we're disappointed with our most recent results in India," Clarke added. "We know that's unacceptable as an Australian cricket team and we've been working hard to try and turn that around.

"All I can ask of the boys is to do their very best and give it a red-hot crack. We know that we're playing a very good team in their own back yard.

"We know that we're going there as underdogs but we like that tag."

SENSATIONAL FORM

Clarke took over as captain after the last Ashes series and has been in sensational form with the bat since, scoring 2,533 test runs at an average of 68.45 with one triple century, three double centuries and five other hundreds.

His importance to the otherwise frail batting order could not be underestimated and he was confident he would be fit to play in England despite missing the last test in India with a disc problem that has troubled him since he was 17.

"It'll be no different to how it's been throughout my career. I've managed to play 90 odd test matches and only miss one," the 32-year-old said.

"That's a big part of why preparation is so important for me. If I can't walk out to bat and score a hundred and help Australia have success, then in my eyes I'm unavailable for selection."

Clarke also said he hoped former vice captain Shane Watson - "one of the best all rounders in the world" - would be fully fit to contribute with both bat and ball against what he admitted was a very good England side.

"(But) every team's beatable, I've experienced that first hand when I came into a great Australian side at the start of my career," he said.

"We lost games of cricket. We lost the Ashes in 2005 and no one expected that. If we play our best cricket, I'm confident we can win the Ashes." (Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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Relieved England head home after wake-up call for Ashes

By Greg Stutchbury

AUCKLAND (Reuters) - Alastair Cook's team return to England under no illusions they pulled off a great escape against New Zealand and can ill afford any further lapses in intensity ahead of back-to-back Ashes series later this year.

The world's second-ranked test side were expected to win comfortably over a New Zealand team skittled for 45 runs by South Africa in January and rocked by the clumsy demotion of former captain Ross Taylor.

Instead, despite benign pitches and patchy weather, they found a New Zealand side intent on ensuring that whatever advantage they gleaned on the field, they were made to earn it.

The hosts bowled them out for under 200 twice and but for a dropped catch and a set of bails that refused to drop on the final day of the final test, Cook's team could well have lost their first series to New Zealand since 1999.

"We have to give a lot of credit to New Zealand," Cook told reporters after the tense third test at Eden Park ended in a draw and the series 0-0.

"They have played well and we haven't played as well as we can do. They put us under a lot of pressure ... at certain times, we have just about managed to respond and hold on."

Cook, who throughout the tour denied his side were taking the hosts lightly, struggled to take too many positives out of the series, other than their ability to save two of the matches.

In the first test in Dunedin, Cook and Nick Compton both scored centuries in England's second innings to resurrect their side after they were bowled out for 167 in the first.

The Wellington weather probably saved New Zealand in the second test but most concerning for England was how comprehensively they were outplayed in the deciding test in Auckland.

Shoulders slumped and discipline flagged as England struggled in the field.

Cook, at one point, seemed so bereft of ideas on how to stop opener Peter Fulton and captain Brendon McCullum feasting off their bowlers ahead of a third innings declaration, that he scattered all nine fielders to the boundary.

Matt Prior's match-saving century at Eden Park will have restored some morale ahead of a busy home summer that includes a return series against New Zealand, the Champions Trophy one-day tournament and the first of their Ashes series against Australia.

The result also showed that with wicketkeeper Prior, who scored 73 in the first innings at Eden Park, anchoring the lower middle order, they can fight their way out of trouble.

"We are disappointed that in this series we haven't played as well as we can," Cook said.

"We haven't been beaten, and I think that's an important thing to have for a side, to have that toughness when you are behind the eight-ball to fight and make yourself a very difficult team to beat."

There are further positives on the horizon for Cook and his team, with spinner Graeme Swann and paceman Tim Bresnan expected to return from elbow surgery for the international programme at home.

World class batsman Kevin Pietersen, pending tests on his knee, should also be back to strengthen the squad.

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