Melbourne a long way from Mohali

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 29 Desember 2013 | 22.07

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AS Shane Watson and Michael Clarke embraced in the centre of the MCG on Sunday it highlighted just how far Melbourne is from Mohali.

The celebration that took place between the captain and his former deputy is a world away from the divisive homework scandal in India nine months ago which prompted Watson to consider his future and cost him the vice-captaincy.

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On Sunday he swatted a ball from Monty Panesar to the square leg boundary, raising the bat and free arm in triumph as Australia claimed an eight-wicket win in the fourth Test.

A new high for Australian cricket as the Ashes lead stretched to 4-0 continues to wipe away the memories from one of the most bizarre and painful moments in the sport, when Watson and three others were suspended for failing to complete a simple assignment.

This is the team that lost all four Tests on that Indian tour, suspended David Warner for hitting England's Joe Root in a bar, bombed out in the Champions Trophy, had its coach sacked 18-days before the Ashes began in England then lost that series 3-0.

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Now Australia is just one Test win away from joining the elite. Ricky Ponting's star-studded 2006-07 team and Warwick Armstrong's in 1920-21 are the only other sides to clean sweep an Ashes series 5-0.

It is fitting that Clarke was batting on Sunday when the winning runs were scored given the depths he and new coach Darren Lehmann have dragged this team back from.

Victory at the MCG has reinforced the most remarkable turnaround in history.

No Australian team has ever played so badly and so well in the same year.

The possibility of 5-0 in Sydney next week is extraordinary given that Australia has just dug itself out of the worst run since the nadir of the mid 80s, going nine Tests in a row without a victory.

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As Australia rapidly ran down what could have been a tricky target of 231 Clarke received his own special round of sustained applause after cutting Ben Stokes to the boundary, bringing up 8000 Test runs.

He becomes just the sixth Australian to achieve the feat and will soon move into fifth on the list of Australia's all-time run makers, going past Mark Waugh's 8029.

The warm applause Clarke received on his arrival at the wicket and again for achieving his significant milestone shows how much the Australian captain has been embraced by the public.

He still talks about being booed earlier in his career.

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Australia's Achilles heel during its poor period earlier in the year was its batting yet such has the domination been in this series the home side has the top four run-scorers.

As for England, the barometer of a team is its fielding and the visitors were terrible on Sunday.

Three chances went down, with stand-in wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow responsible for two of them.

The most costly was an edge from century maker Chris Rogers when he was just 19 which Bairstow did not even go for as it sailed away to the boundary.

Who would have thought that four months after winning the Ashes so convincingly, England would unravel so completely.


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