At present the crown sits easily on Michael Clarke's head. Despite his recent troubles with the bat he has continued to captain the team with aplomb. In itself that is no mean achievement. Struggling captains can easily go down in the dumps. Clarke has realised that he has two roles to play, and cannot neglect one because the other is not working.
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Throughout he changed his bowlers shrewdly, keeping fieldsmen on their toes and generally creating a positive atmosphere. Clearly the captain was still on the bridge and his players responded with a fighting performance.
Defending a modest total, Clarke's bowlers put on a fiery display that a wobbly batting order found too hot to handle. As usual Brett Lee led the way with an incisive burst. If only the Test pitch had been as fast and firm.
Clarke supported his speedsters and also backed Steve Smith by introducing him early and giving him a long stint at the crease. John Hastings, too, took his chance and looks increasingly sure of himself. Admittedly the batting was patchy but the Australians are beginning to look handy in the field.
However, the batting is not functioning properly. Australia ought to have scored 275 and need to find the right tempo before the serious part of the World Cup campaign begins. Admittedly two elder statesmen were missing but even so the batting lacked calculation. None of the specialists produced the long innings required. Instead they came, smacked a few and departed with the job incomplete.
At times the batsmen seem to be pressing too hard. Attacking the new ball might work on polite subcontinental decks but it's risky hereabouts. Far from keeping wickets in hand for the late charge, the hosts piled risk upon risk and eventually paid the penalty. Australia wasted the powerplay and for the second time in a short campaign did not bat out the 50 overs. One day lapses of that sort will prove costly.
In some cases judgment was lacking. Brad Haddin and Clarke fell into that category. Haddin walked across his sticks and tried a shot better suited to the last overs of a Twenty20 contest. Boldness and recklessness might look similar but ought not to be confused. His wicket is too important to be lightly cast aside. Clarke batted with control only to play an ill-conceived stroke just as he was about to cut loose.
Among the rest, Shaun Marsh and Cameron White did not grasp the nettle. Marsh's inconsistency is holding him back and until a remedy is found he will be hard pressed to retain his place. He also suffers from an alarming number and wide variety of injuries. For his own sake he ought to be put through his paces by marines.
White took a forthright approach only to be beaten by a corker. At present he is not imposing himself often enough. His strength lies in his ability to drive boundaries and strike sixes but he does not score off enough deliveries.
Not that it was all bad tidings. Clarke produced his sweetest knock of the summer. Forget about his frenzied effort in the Adelaide Test, an innings ended by the last ball of the day. Although he played breezily, his tempo seemed too hectic and his downfall did not come as a complete surprise.
Now the acting captain batted with intent. Only the end was unworthy - a poor shot played at an inopportune moment. Until then he had set about playing the innings his side needed.
At first he went for his shots and doubtless was relieved to find the ball flying off his bat and scooting between fieldsmen. Early boundaries have much the same effect on batsmen as a beer does on miners after a hard day's yakka.
Hereabouts Clarke's was at his most fertile. His strokes included a deft glide off his pads, a caress past mid-off, a cracking square cut and a pull that confirmed confidence was coming back. After heckling him as he walked to the crease, the crowd began to get behind him.
Unfortunately wickets kept falling, so he was obliged to put his nut down. He used his wrists to tuck the ball to leg and kept the total ticking along with safe singles. David Hussey kept his captain company whilst the rebuilding was undertaken. He is starting to feel at home in the side. His wickets have helped. Skills feed off each other. It can even apply to captaincy and batting.
Clarke finally decided the time had come to chance his arm whereupon he tried to punish anything dropped short. Alas the idea was better than the execution. He tried to pull the wrong ball and left with head bowed. As he departed, the meaning of his innings was debated. Was he back? Suffice it to say that he is heading in the right direction.
