Australia were doing their best to play down concerns about the fitness of captain Michael Clarke ahead of the Ashes on Tuesday night after he was ruled out of Wednesday’s Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand.
Clarke missed his side’s defeat by England on Saturday because of a recurrence of his chronic back problem and fears are growing that he may not make it through a five-match Ashes series squeezed into six-and-a-half weeks.
The Aussie skipper, who was also sidelined for the Champions Trophy warm-up game at Cardiff in which his team crashed to 65 all out against India, continues to have what team physio Alex Kountouris called ‘intensive treatment’ in London as he battles for fitness before the first Ashes Test on July 10.
Kountouris said: ‘While he is making good progress, he has not improved sufficiently to play the game against New Zealand. We will continue to monitor his progress.’
Clarke now faces a race to make himself available for Australia’s final Champions Trophy group game, against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Monday. But that match may prove redundant if Australia lose to New Zealand in Birmingham on Wednesday — a result that would end their interest in a tournament they are looking to win for the third time in a row should England go on to defeat Sri Lanka at The Oval on Thursday.
Victory for England would go a long way to securing their own qualification for the semi-finals and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has promised he will not be dissuaded from playing his trademark scoop shot by the extreme pace and unusual trajectory of Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga.
The man known as ‘Slinger’ because of his almost unique round-arm action was in devastating form on Sunday in Cardiff, where his toe-crunching yorkers nearly inspired the Sri Lankans to a miraculous win over New Zealand.
But Buttler, who himself stunned the New Zealanders at Trent Bridge last week with an unbeaten 47 from 16 balls in their NatWest Series match, sounded undeterred about Malinga’s late reverse swing.
‘Any shot is harder against reverse swing, but the scoop is a big part of my game,’ he said. ‘I practise it a lot and, if I feel the situation is right, I won’t be afraid to play it.
‘I’m confident I can put in some good performances against him. He’s different, but he’s been around a while so people are more used to him now than when he came on to the scene.’
But former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene hit back with a warning for anyone thinking of scooping his country’s prize asset.
‘Well let them try it and we’ll see,’ he said. ‘It is a calculated risk and a few guys have tried. Some have come off and some haven’t. Some have got hurt.
‘I wish them all the best with it. I wouldn’t do it against Malinga, but if they want to do it then that is up to them.’
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