Australia collapse in Ashes

No wonder many Australia players have likened Anderson’s injury to the moment Australia pace great Glenn McGrath trod on a stray ball before the start of the 2005 Edgbaston Test and was ruled out with an ankle injury which also sidelined him from the fourth Test of that series, at Trent Bridge.

NOTTINGHAM – Australia cricket captain Michael Clarke is determined to prove the doubters wrong and lead his country back into contention for the Ashes when the fourth Test against England begins on Thursday.

Aussie captain Michael Clarke has never been under this sort of pressure and it showed at stages this week, highlighted by his exclusive column in News Corp newspapers boldly declaring he won’t step away any time soon. England won both matches McGrath missed that series as they regained the Ashes 2-1.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief sports writer Andrew Webster said on Tuesday Clarke’s expression “with each cheap dismissal is undeniable: it is a blank expression of utter bewilderment”.

“Obviously it strengthens our batting having a very good and an in-form batsman in Shaun Marsh and we rely on obviously three fast bowlers and Nathan Lyon as well”.

“At Trent Bridge, it’s also a lot about the overhead conditions – because, unless the whole game is played under blue sky, I expect that the ball will swing”.

But the 34-year-old, who has scored 28 Test centuries, said he was going nowhere, with the desire to play still burning strongly.

“I don’t think you can build it up too much, I think you’ve got to play your best”.

“We have to bat well. Now we have to come out and execute like that”.

Openers Chris Rogers, David Warner and allrounder Mitchell Marsh walked back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. Rogers’s dismissal marked his first duck in Test cricket.