JOIN USMichael Clarke vowed to have the last laugh on all those who mocked his suggestion that Australia could still win the Ashes after a crushing defeat at Lord’s left them 2-0 down in the five-match series.
Ashes-holders England thrashed their arch-rivals by 347 runs at Lord’s on Sunday to strengthen their grip on the urn.
The last time any side came from 2-0 down to win the Ashes was in 1936/37 when Australia, inspired by Don Bradman, eventually won 3-2 on home soil.
However, despite the weight of history against him, Clarke said: “I’m still confident we can win this series.
“I know a lot of the crowd laughed when I said that (at the presentation ceremony), and rightly so with the position we are in right now, but all of our top order have made a fifty and we need someone who can go on and make a big hundred – as England have done.
“We need to perform better to win this third Test but we have time to prepare,” added Clarke, with Australia set to play a three-day tour match against Sussex starting on Friday before facing England again at Old Trafford, where the next Ashes encounter gets underway on August 1.
“Our performance with the bat was unacceptable. The wicket was very good for batting.
“We had a great opportunity but we let ourselves down,” Clarke added. We have plenty of experience in our top seven, but our shot selection was poor and we didn’t have the discipline that England had,” Clarke asserted.
“They were willing to bat for long periods and graft through the tough periods, but we certainly weren’t in that first innings.”