SPORT llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ntnews.com.au Johnson could give lesson to Knives come out in British media for tourists

MITCHELL Johnson’s batting get the picture of how much Johnson and wicketkeeper THE fallout from labelled as ‘‘depressing’’ and ror’s Oliver Holt called for average of 49 for the Ashes the 32-year-old has dominated immediately defeat has begun in England, hard to watch by UK media veteran batsman Kevin series places him above all the the series so far. turned to the Barmy Army with poor preparation, selec- yesterday and fingers are be- Pietersen to be axed. England players, and fourth The Barmy Army took fans during yesterday’s tion and leadership being ing pointed far and wide. ‘‘He is setting a tone. Just among the Australians. great joy in poking fun at the morning session after John- blamed for the nation’s fail- ‘‘It was just demoralising not the right kind of tone,’’ he If you throw in the fact he’s wayward left-armer during son had claimed the key wick- ure to retain the urn. to watch and England wrote. ‘‘It is sad to say it but bowled at terrifying speeds of the 2009 Ashes series. And et of Matt Prior. A third successive Test de- seemed to be powerless to in- it has got to the point where over 150 km/h and claimed 23 again in 2010-11. But how the Johnson took three of the feat, which ensured Austra- tervene,’’ The Daily Tele- it feels he is a luxury Eng- at 15.47, you start to tables were turned yesterday. last five wickets to fall. lia a series victory, was graph wrote. The Daily Mir- land can no longer afford.’’

SCOREBOARD

Third Test - Australia v England at the WACA Ground, Australia 1st Innings 385 England 1st Innings 251 Australia 2nd Innings 6(dec)-369 England 2nd Innings A COOK b Harris ...... 0 M CARBERRY lbw b Watson 31 J ROOT c Haddin b Johnson . . 19 K PIETERSEN c Harris b Lyon 45 I BELL c Haddin b Siddle . . 60 B STOKES c Haddin b Lyon 120 M PRIOR c Haddin b Johnson 26 T BRESNAN c Rogers b Johnson ...... 12 G SWANN c Smith b Lyon . . 4 S BROAD ...... 2 J ANDERSON c Bailey b Johnson ...... 2 Sundries (13b, 13lb, 6w) . . 32 TOTAL ...... 353 Fall: 0 (Cook), 62 (Carberry), 76 PUB: (Root), 121 (Pietersen), 220 (Bell), 296 (Prior), 336 (Stokes), 347 (Swann), 349 (Bresnan), 353 (And- erson). TNEWS NT Bowling: R Harris 19-2-73-1, M Jo- hnson 25.2-6-78-4 (1w/5), N Lyon 22-5-70-3 (1w), P Siddle 26-11-67-1, S Watson 11-1-39-1. Batting time: 457 mins. Overs: 103.2 Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZ), Marais Erasmus (Rsa). Match Referee: (NZ).

DATE: Third Umpire: Tony Hill (NZ). Australia won by 150 runs to lead the five-of-series 3-0. Man of the Match: (Aust). 18-DEC-2013

QUOTE ME

The Australian players and support staff assemble on the WACA pitch to sing their team song after claiming the Ashes yesterday, while the scoreboard ‘‘They’re coming home. It’s an (below) says it all after England succumbed to their third defeat in as many Tests since arriving Down Under Pictures: RYAN PIERSE and ROBERT CIANFLONE amazing group of boys. A lot of hard work. It’s paid off.’’ - Australian paceman . PAGE: ‘‘I came back from my injury and I had a lot of doubters there. I did all the hard work and I’ve taken this opportunity with both hands.’’ - Australian 42 Patchwork side deliver paceman . ‘‘There’s always going to be in-

COLOR: quests when you lose. The simple fact of the matter is we haven’t had enough players in form with either bat or ball.’’ - England Alastair a tailor-made triumph Cook. ‘‘Our goal is to get back to be- C ing the No.1 team in the world. Ponting 46 in 77. Clarke has No doubt we’ll celebrate hard M By MALCOLM CONN had 32 different players in as tonight and enjoy it. But we’d in Perth love to win 5-0 in this series.’’ -

Y many Tests as captain, and this is despite Australia play- Australian skipper Michael K THIS is Michael Clarke’s ing the same side for the past Clarke. finest hour. three Tests, something which ‘‘Well done to — the one who has made the To pick up a cobbled to- has not happened since the biggest difference to this Aus- gether side from the wreckage last three Tests of the 2006-07 sie team.’’ - former England of poor Indian and England 5-0 whitewash. skipper Michael Vaughan. tours and reclaim the Ashes This was Clarke’s 15th vic- ‘‘I look into their eyes and I see in such emphatic fashion is tory as captain, drawing him what they do in training. I’ll one of the great achievements level with , who never feel let down by any of in Australian cricket. achieved the success in 24 the lads that go out there and put on an England shirt.’’ - Coming off nine Tests with- Tests, and , who Cook. out a victory and with a bat- did it from 30 Tests in charge. ‘‘I was lucky enough to have ting line-up as unreliable as a Perhaps the most remark- the old boy behind the wickets political promise, Australian able part of Clarke’s leader- and he held on to a pretty good fans viewed this series more ship has been his dominance catch.’’ - Australian spinner in hope than expectation. with the bat. In his 32 Tests as talks about Clarke and coach Darren captain Clarke has scored Brad Haddin’s catch to dis- miss for 120. Lehmann have not built a side 3290 runs at an average of bet- ‘‘As a captain, the buck stops with Australia’s next generat- ter than 62. This includes a with you. I have to look at ion of stars, as triple and three dou- whether I’m managing the and coach did ble hundreds, better than any players right. Am I doing the through the late ’80s to so sur- regular Australian captain right things out in the middle? prisingly win the 1987 World except, of course, Bradman. We have to have some honest Cup and 1989 Ashes. That Clarke has been chats.’’ - Cook again. Instead the current captain forced to do most of the heavy ‘‘Boof I love to bits. He’s a fan- and coach have dragged a lifting with the bat is high- tastic guy and a wonderful coach. But this isn’t just be- bunch of ageing hard heads lighted by his greatest sup- cause of Darren Lehmann.’’ - out of the Last Chance saloon Boon (88 Tests), spinner called Likewise Warne claimed port coming from the unpre- Clarke. and given them an unexpec- (65), (62), Craig took over 100 in 26 Tests. 199 wickets under Taylor, 175 dictable , with ‘‘They have had good plans and ted shot at glory. McDermott (58), Glenn McGrath’s 12 wick- under Steve Waugh and 200 1850 runs at 45 in 24 Tests. executed them really well Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, (54), (53), ets at 40 in five Tests under from 34 Tests under Ponting. And the only bowler to take while we’ve cocked it up big and Ricky Pointing during (50) and Geoff Border gave no indication of And all of those former cap- 100 wickets under Clarke is time.’’- former England the first half of his captaincy Marsh (50) creating the back- what was to come. tains ended up with more the lion-hearted . opener . career all reaped the benefits bone of Australia’s rise from The fast bowler took almost stable sides than Clarke has So the collective pride of ‘‘I know what Alastair feels like at the moment. You know, it of that painful rebuilding in the rubble. 200 wickets under Taylor, been forced to marshal. Australia’s remarkable wasn’t that long ago that I sat the late ’80s. McDermott and Hughes well over 200 under Steve Border led 56 players in 93 achievement to so decisively in the same position.’’ - Clarke During his record 93 Tests claimed well over 200 wickets Waugh, and 115 in 25 Tests Tests as captain, Taylor 36 in regain the Ashes should be sympathises with the de- in charge Border had David each and a young blond leg- under Ponting. 50, Steve Waugh 28 in 57 and acknowledged to the fullest. feated Cook.

42 NT NEWS. Wednesday, December 18, 2013. www.ntnews.com.au