Australia’s short Caribbean tour always looked like something of an appetiser for the Ashes and captain Michael Clarke allowed himself to address the main course after wrapping up a comfortable 2-0 series sweep on Sunday.
The tourists needed less than four days to thrash West Indies by 277 runs in the second Test in Kingston, Jamaica, and will clearly be charged with confidence going into the first clash against England, which begins in Cardiff on July 8.
“I think I’m allowed to talk about the Ashes now,” Clarke said after the match at Sabina Park.
“Credit to the boys, I was really honest and made it very clear I didn’t want it spoken about at all throughout this series and I’m extremely thankful and proud that none of the guys have spoken about it.
“I’d be lying to say it hasn’t been in the back of everyone’s mind, but the fact we’ve been really disciplined on playing really good cricket in these conditions against this West Indies team is a really good achievement from the boys.
“But we’re all excited about what lies ahead. I’ve spoken a lot about consistency away from home, I just hope this is the start of it.”
Read more:
– Michael Clarke and Australia have West Indies on the ropes in second Test at Kingston
– On eve of 110th Test, Australia’s Michael Clarke happy to have proven himself
Australia have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001 but hopes will be high back home that Clarke’s 2015 tourists can break that drought.
Steve Smith has been in brilliant form with the bat and, after the Australian pace bowlers produced the goods on sluggish Caribbean tracks, the selectors will have a job deciding who to leave out against England.
Those decisions lie ahead and Clarke no longer has a seat on the selection panel, so he was content to look back on a job well done.
“Confidence is a vital part of any team and any squad. You have to earn that though,” Clarke said.
“It takes a lot of hard work to feel you can walk out onto a ground in an international game and have success and once you get it you want it to stay forever. So you’ve got to ride that wave for as long as you can.
“You’ve got to accept in this game that there are going to be tough times.
“But what we’ve got at the moment is, if guys aren’t bowling as well as they’d like or making as many runs as they’d like, somebody else is stepping up and I think that’s where we’re having success.”
Smith earned the man-of-the-match award for his career-best 199 in Australia’s first innings of 399, followed by 54 not out in his team’s second innings of 212 for two declared.
West Indies was all out for 220 in their first innings.
“We knew it was going to be tough. We showed some fight but not as long as we wanted to,” West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin said after the match. “We have to go back to the drawing board, see what we can learn and improve as a team.”
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Founder: Areej Selmi
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Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Moon Music
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Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
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Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home