Paul Munyuki and Jonathan John Harare Bureau
AUSTRALIA cricket captain Michael Clarke says his charges have their eyes on the big prize when they take on hosts Zimbabwe and South Africa in the one day tri-angular series that get underway at Harare Sports Club on Monday.
The boys from Down Under arrived in the country yesterday just before lunch and Clarke was quick to point out they are here to win all their games and are not worried about the form both South Africa and Zimbabwe are in.

Zimbabwe were yesterday white-washed  a three match ODI series to South Africa at Queens Sports Club yesterday while Australia have not played an international match in almost five months as they are coming from a winter break.

That Zimbabwe seem to be the weakest team is not all joy for Australia who know their biggest competitor will be the Proteas with Clarke indicating they will treat both teams with due respect and not undermine what they are capable of doing.

“We obviously have a lot of respect for Zimbabwe and South Africa, we have come here with the attitude that it doesn’t matter who we are playing; we are only here with the right attitude to play hard and cricket and we just have to win every game.

“Every series we play for Australia we play to win and it is important for us, we play to win every game and hopefully we are going to have a good series. Some of the players in our side me included have been here in the last few years with Australia A and we have told the young boys too much about Zimbabwe.

“We know that Harare Sports Club has a flat wicket and turns a bit so it is good for the spinners but an all round it’s a good wicket. We need to hit the deck as hard as we can every time we get a flat wicket; we have got experienced bowlers in our line up like Mitchell Johnson, and Mitchell Starc so they can get us there,” said Clarke.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann feels they a have a huge challenge ahead of them as they are coming from a five month break following a very long period of play that lasted over 18 months without rest.

“Now the (challenge) is getting us back up to the skill level that we need to compete at international cricket. We’ve got Zimbabwe and South Africa and then we’ve obviously got a big test in the UAE.

“We’re going to be a bit rusty with the skills, but that’s okay. We’re going to make mistakes, but that’s okay. What we need to do is build and build and build to become a better Test side, a better one-day side, a better Twenty20 side.

“We have to find the right balance, whoever that is, whether that’s Phillip in or not in for the first game, we have to sum up the conditions. We have to make sure we get away to a good start, so we’ll be at full-strength early and then see what happens with the tournament from there, how the wickets play and whether it spins or doesn’t,” said Lehmann.

Australia are, however, without key batsmen in the form of David Warner who is preparing for the birth of his first child, Shane Watson who suffered an ankle injury last Saturday and Shaun Marsh who is recovering from elbow surgery.

But the absenteeism of these three is no major worry for Clarke who feels they have the depth to cover for the missing players, at the same time he believes this is also a chance for the young players to show what they can do. “I still think we’ve got options,” Clarke told the media.

“Obviously we’ve got Hughes, he’s in a purple patch at the moment, we’ve got Finchy (Aaron Finch) who batted beautifully in our preparatory game and has opened the batting for us, Brad Haddin has opened the batting for us and his numbers are very good as a one-day opener. He certainly gives us an option there. We will work out what we think is the best line-up for the conditions and the opposition we are playing and I think the wicket determines that more than anything else.”

“I think the (young players) will see it as an opportunity to be a part of our one-day team, to try and get their foot in the door and cement their spot —make it hard for the players that aren’t on this tour to get back into the team,” said Clarke.

 

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