West Indies crash out to ruthless Australia

Australia 109 for 4 (Haddin 42) beat West Indies 105 (Sarwan 26, Smith 3-20) by 6 wickets

West Indies saved their worst for last as they were knocked out of their home tournament with a crushing six-wicket defeat by Australia. The hosts were in.......Read More & Image>>

Australia hand Sri Lanka 81-run thrashing

Australia 168 for 5 (White 85*, Randiv 3-20) beat Sri Lanka 87 (Johnson 3-15, Nannes 2-19)

Australia stormed to a resounding 81-run win that all but assured their semi-finals spot as Sri Lanka were steamrolled by extreme pace and sustained pressure...Read More & Image>>

Michael Hussey and Nannes take Australia through

Australia 141 for 7 (M Hussey 47*, Smith 27) beat Bangladesh (Shakib 28, Nannes 4-18) by 27 runs

Michael Hussey reprised his favourite role, of the rescue artist, to steer Australia to a competitive total before Dirk Nannes' pace and some world-class fielding confirmed there......Read more & picture>>

Watson, Hussey set up emphatic win

Australia 191 (Watson 81, D Hussey 53, Aamer 3-23) beat Pakistan 157 (Misbah 41, Tait 3-20, Nannes 3-41) by 34 runs
Australia began to right previous wrongs in this........Read more>>

Clarke aims to lift the pace

Clarke: will attempt to raise his game at the World Twenty20 but don't expect him to rain sixes over the small grounds in the West Indies. Clarke, who left Sydney with his squad on Friday, is less suited to the shorter format than his big-hitting team-mates and is more comfortable with along-the-grass play.

He wouldn't be captain if the selectors didn't believe he was capable of regular heavy contributions and he showed he could lift the pace with 67 off 45 balls when Australia chased 214 in Christchurch in February. While he has a modest strike-rate of 108.83 in 24 matches, he won't be over-hauling his tactics.

"I think I can probably still take it up a notch but I think that's the way I play," he said of placing his strokes instead of powering them. "I can guarantee I won't be the type of guy who goes out there and tries to smack the first ball out of the park. I know I won't be successful like that, so for me it's important to play my way: to play cricket shots, to use my strengths, my speed, my running between wickets, my energy in the field, and then if I have to bowl.

Clarke, Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2010

There was a time when Michael Clarke was viewed even by some of his teammates as a bit of a glory boy. Richly talented and with an impeccable pedigree, this kid was along for the ride - the only 20-something in a team of hardnosed 30-somethings who ruled the world, a Generation Y in a group of uncompromising streetfighters. Even when he was made vice-captain after Adam Gilchrist retired early in 2008, Gilchrist was one of those warning that Clarke should not assume he would be Australia's next captain. Was he tough enough when it counted? He has been answering in the affirmative almost ever since.

In 2009, Clarke reinforced his status as one of Australia's premier batsmen, but was gutted when a string of sterling performances came to nothing. It was no consolation that he was Australia's leading run-scorer in the Ashes, with 448 runs at 64; he failed twice at The Oval, where England won easily to claim the series 2-1. Clarke had dominated the first four Tests with two centuries, a 93 and an 83, and was in line for the Compton-Miller medal for the series' best player. That was until the man who rightly beat him for the honour, England captain Andrew Strauss, completely out-batted him and out-thought him at The Oval, with a catch at short cover in the first innings and a spectacular run-out in the second. "The game always finds a way of biting you on the backside," Clarke observed later.

Australian bowler Ben Hilfenhaus eyes summer comeback

Australia bowler Ben Hilfenhaus says he hopes to play again in June after suffering tendonitis in his left knee.

The 27-year-old, the top wicket-taker in last summer's Ashes, has not even been able to bowl in the nets since November because of the problem.

But he says he hopes to be fit for the Australia A team's game against Sri Lanka A on 18 June.

"There's no good time to be injured but if it means my career goes longer it'll be worth it down the track," he said.

The injury flared up in the first Test between Australia and the West Indies at the end of last year, and has prevented the Tasmanian bowling at all.