Stuart Clark: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Stuart Clark cares for Test cricket.

What he said:

“The Test series is big but at the end of the day if they do well in the World Cup no one will care about the Test series over there.”

Stuart Clark articulates what every dyed-in-the-wool Indian cricket fan openly admits—that recency and ODI wins count more than any overseas Test results.

The former Australian pacer said:

“I’d suggest India are very, very concerned about the World Cup.That’s a big thing in their cricket calendar, one-day cricket and the World Cup.”

On India’s performance after the first two Tests in England:

“But as soon as they moved to a wicket that did a little bit the white flags went up.”

Clark does not believe that Indian spinners will make a huge difference in the series against Australia Down Under.

He said:

“If India are going to come out and bowl spinners at us I think we’ll come out and smash them everywhere. They’re going to Brisbane first. Other than Shane Warne, no spinner has ever really done a lot there and been overly successful. In Adelaide they’ll be OK, but Sydney the last couple of years has been quite pace-friendly – it’s been carrying through and seamed around everywhere.

They’ll play Ashwin – he’s a good bowler in Indian conditions but I can’t see him being overly successful here.”

What Clark really meant:

 “India are the ODI world champions after all. And their fans will not accept anything less than a stellar performance at the World Cup. The Test series? The guys were whitewashed 4-0 the last time around. Can they fare worse? Anything less would be a major improvement.”

What he definitely didn’t:

” But it’d be so nice to thoroughly demoralise the Indian batsmen going into the World Cup. Nothing like another whitewash to do the job.”