Clarke says he won't oppose T20 matches at expense of ODIs

Arizona Herald (ANI) Sunday 5th February, 2012

Australian captain Michael Clarke has said he will not tand in the way if the Cricket Australia decides to hold more Twenty20 international matches at the expense of the one-day matches.

"Honestly it is completely up to Cricket Australia and the ICC. Whatever they give us to play, obviously I am not involved in the Twenty20 so if there is more Twenty20 cricket then I won't be required, I'll get a longer break after the Test series," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Clarke, as saying.

"I'm looking forward to the one-day series and I'm excited that we are playing two very strong teams, and if it continues in this same fashion that we play a lot of one-day cricket after the Test series, then I look forward to that; if it changes, it just means I get a longer break," he added.

His comments came after India won the Twenty20 game in Melbourne, which was their first victory in the current tour.

Clarke said it was impossible to ignore the Twenty 20 cricket's popularity.

"It's been the same for a while now in Twenty20 cricket. I think it has probably had a fair amount of success domestically whether that be IPL, Champions League or Big Bash, so I'm not sure what they're going to do internationally," he said.

"When you're playing two very good opposition teams like we are, Sri Lanka and India, if I was a fan I would love to get out there and watch it so I am expecting people to continue to turn out. It's probably going to be a little bit harder for the Melbourne people tomorrow considering they have just played a Twenty20 last night, people have only got so much money so a lot of families can't afford in one weekend to go and watch two big games. We'll wait and see. If any city is going to turn out it's Melbourne, though, they're very supportive of Australian cricket and of sport," he added. (ANI)