Clarke tips Doolan for big runs in Abu Dhabi

Australia

Australia captain Michael Clarke insists top order batsman Alex Doolan will make a strong recovery in the second Test against Pakistan, after a poor match in the defeat in Dubai.

Doolan scored five in the first innings before being run out in sloppy fashion, and in the second dig he recorded a duck. But Clarke refused to say Doolan was out of form, citing his ton in the tour game.

The skipper said: “I’m certainly not going to sit here and say that he can be out of form. He just made an unbelievable hundred in the tour game.

“Dools will be fine. He’s a very good player. He knows his game really well. He’s showed he can bat in these conditions.

“You don’t lose class overnight. I’m confident that come this second Test he’ll probably make another hundred.”

Meanwhile, opener Chris Rogers said that while he didn’t mind slow, spinning tracks, having played on them early in his career, the younger players in the side needed to adapt quickly before the second game.

The 37-year-old said of turning tracks: “I remember playing (Stuart) MacGill in Sydney when I first started and that was a challenge. We don’t have them any more which is a bit of a shame.

“We have to adapt. We had a couple of weeks here practising before the first Test and it is different and it is very difficult. We have to learn and learn quickly.”

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