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Bowler wants bounce for home-ground advantage

MCG pitch leaves Clark feeling flat

Cricinfo staff

December 24, 2007

Stuart Clark: "I'm not going into the match with any expectations for a fast bowler-friendly wicket" © Getty Images

Stuart Clark would prefer the first Test of the India series to be played in Brisbane or Perth instead of on an MCG surface that he expects will provide little help for the fast bowlers. While the debate over the make-up of the attack continues, Clark's spot is secure, although he wished the opening game was being staged somewhere else.

"That way, we could really ram home our advantage," Clark told the Sydney Morning Herald. "The conditions in Brisbane and Perth are so different to what you find in the subcontinent, and it would obviously be ideal from our perspective to play the first Test of series in places like that."

Australia's attack will try to upset India's batsmen with lifting deliveries, but Clark is not confident the MCG pitch will help the home bowlers. "The Indians don't get a lot of exposure to our bouncier surfaces, and you'd probably say Melbourne isn't one of those," Clark said. "I'm not going into the match with any expectations for a fast bowler-friendly wicket."

The second match is in Sydney, which traditionally suits the spinners, before the third game in Perth. "It will be interesting to see how that goes [at the WACA]," he said. "We're all well aware that scheduling these days isn't a simple matter, but I suppose you'd just like to get that real home-ground advantage if it was possible."

Mitchell Johnson is in a battle with Shaun Tait for the final bowling spot and he is confident he will be able to adapt against the style of Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh if he makes the team ahead of Shaun Tait. "I really enjoy bowling to left-handers and when I get it right and the ball is swinging away and bouncing away from the lefties, it is pretty hard for them to face," Johnson said in the Daily Telegraph. "I know it is hard for left-handed batsmen to face left-arm bowlers because I've found it difficult - and quite different - when I've batted against them down the order."

Johnson was dropped for Tait during the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy but he has been busy working on his bowling in preparation for the Test series. "I feel fresh and ready to go," he said. "The ball is coming out of my hand really well in the nets."

© Cricinfo