Australia have lots of work to do against spin bowling: Michael Clarke

The former Australia captain Michael Clarke has admitted that Sri Lanka were too good for the Australian team in the recent Test fixture. However, he added that the Pat Cummins-led side missed too many opportunities to take control of the game.

The second Test witnessed the Sri Lankan Lions emerging as the outright winner by an innings and 39 runs. Australia were utterly clueless against the lethal spin attack of the hosts. 

The hosts levelled the series 1-1, and Sri Lanka managed to leapfrog India and Pakistan in the World Test Championship (WTC) table.

Clarke has opined that the spinners have dominated the Australian team. He thinks the players need to work on these shortcomings in the near future.

“They played much better cricket from ball one to be honest, they assessed conditions really well with the bats and managed to get that big total,” Clarke said of Sri Lanka on The Big Sports Breakfast.

“Australia just missed too many opportunities. We didn’t capitalise with the bat and then with the ball there were plenty of missed opportunities.

“Again, lots of work to do against spin bowling. I think it continues to be our weakness, players find it very hard to start their innings against spin bowling in those conditions.”

Good lesson for Australian team ahead of India Tour: Michael Clarke

The 2015 World Cup winner thinks few players in the lineup against Sri Lanka had not played enough matches on the subcontinent pitches.

He added that the conditions in India will demand an extra spinner, and a Tour to the Island country was a good chance for the second-choice spinners to prepare themselves.

“I think half our batting lineup and half our bowling lineup hasn’t played a lot over here in the sub-continent,” he said.

“So the experience on these two vastly different wickets, I think we got a lot of lessons out of it to take to India next year. In Australia most likely you only play one spinner, so in the background, you’re trying to prepare a couple of other guys so they get the chance over in India.”

Australia will be touring India early next year to play a red-ball series. It will be a critical series for both teams as they aim to stake their claim for a spot in WTC Finals.