CAPE TOWN: Australian captain Michael Clarke has underlined the importance of winning the second Test against South Africa by saying he won’t hesitate to make necessary changes in the playing eleven for the crunch game beginning on Thursday.
Australia were comfortably beaten in the first Test Friday after slumping to their fourth lowest total with a 47 in the second innings. A match-winning partnership of 150 runs between captain Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla gave South Africa a 1-0 lead in the short series.
Clarke conceded Australia were not “good enough” in the game and stressed on picking the best eleven for the second one at the Wanderers, Johannesburg.
“Whoever we think our best 11 is for this second Test match needs to be selected,” Clarke was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.
“If that means no changes that means no changes. If that means four changes, so be it. I want the best 11 to win the game in Johannesburg..”
Senior players in the team failed miserably in the topsy-turvy match that saw four innings being played on the second day.
Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin failed in both innings while Mitchell Johnson was proved toothless throughout the match.
Clarke was particularly critical of the way his bowlers bowled in the South Africa’s second innings.
“I don’t want to hide away from the fact of how bad we played in our second innings but I also don’t want to hide away from the fact that if we had made 600 in our second innings the way we came out and bowled… we still would have been a chance of losing.
“We just weren’t good enough,” said Clarke. (Agencies)