Cook stands by team
Perth: Captain Michael Clarke vowed there would be no let-up in the final two Tests as rampant Australia eye a 5-0 clean-sweep against England after regaining the Ashes on Tuesday.
Despite registering their third big win in a row to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead, Clarke said Australia hoped to inflict even more pain when the series resumes in Melbourne.
Emphatic victories in Brisbane, Adelaide and now Perth have returned the trophy to Australia for the first time since 2007 and left old enemy England reeling.
“This is a special feeling,” Clarke said of his first Ashes series win as skipper.
“I am going to enjoy 3-0 for as long as I can tonight. I am going to enjoy this feeling, but I can guarantee you there won’t be any complacency.
“We will turn up in Melbourne 100 percent ready to go and be doing everything we have done in first three Test matches.”
Clarke is the only player in the Australian team to have experienced an Ashes series win before, when the home team thrashed England 5-0 in 2006-2007.
However, he said the job was not complete, with Australia looking for another white-wash by winning the remaining two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
England captain Alastair Cook on the other hand described the Ashes loss as the lowest point of his career, but rejected suggestions his team’s flaccid defence was a sign it was in terminal decline.
But even Cook conceded they were completely outplayed in the first two Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide, and again in Perth — where they lost by 150 runs to give the home side an unbeatable 3-0 lead.
A feature of the series has been the poor performance of senior English players, including Cook himself, powerful batsman Kevin Pietersen, wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior, spinner Graeme Swann and swing bowler Jimmy Anderson.
Cook, who suffered his first series defeat as skipper, told reporters he realised there would be a detailed autopsy of the team’s failure. He accepted that key England players were down on their best form in the first three Tests, but said it was premature to read anything more long-term into it. (AFP)
