No holds barred on Boxing Day

Melbourne, December 24

Australia’s chirpy opening batsman David Warner has described his team’s mental battles with opponents as banter, not sledging, and says he has no plans to curb the exchanges despite things getting lost in translation occasionally.
Australia are renowned for their chatter in the middle, which has often put the team in hot water. Captain Michael Clarke’s menacing warning to England bowler James Anderson to “get ready for a broken ... arm” during the Ashes series cost him part of his match fee but won him more than a few admirers among the Australian public. The recent death of Australia batsman Phillip Hughes prompted calls by pundits for cricketers to be more civil to each other out in the field of battle.
And for three days of the series-opening Test in Adelaide between Australia and India, it appeared the calls had been heeded. Then Warner, as so often before, managed to get under his opponents’ skin. Warner was given an almighty send-off when bowled by paceman Varun Aaron on Day Four but had the last laugh when the wicket was disallowed after a television replay showed the bowler had overstepped the crease on his delivery.
Warner would score two centuries for the match.
Since then, it has been ‘game on’ and Warner said on Wednesday more of the same could be expected during the third Test in Melbourne with the hosts carrying a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
“If it requires a little bit of banter to get the other person talking, that’s what is going to happen,” Warner told reporters. “Some players, they don’t say anything at all, but then when they do, you know you’ve gotten into them and they’re actually listening to you. You know you’re in their head. I like to go at them, to try and get them to bite back at me when I go out there and bat. At the moment it’s working.” Warner was sledger-in-chief during the Ashes series — even off the field when assessing the struggles of England batsman Jonathan Trott. India has proved a bit of a challenge, though.
“It’s quite tough with nations that speak different languages,” Warner said. “The aim for us it’s not really sledging, it’s more banter.” — Agencies

‘India don’t believe they can win away’ 
Matthew Hayden feels the tourists do not seem to believe that they can win away from home and have gone “missing” during key moments of the ongoing Test series. “India’s biggest weakness is they don’t believe they can win away from home. Whether it’s starting the day badly or not finishing an innings like they should — they seem to go missing at key moments,” Hayden wrote in a column for The Daily Telegraph. “The noise around the team isn’t great either. Putting the food issue aside (which I think is embarrassing for Australia because grounds should be making an extra effort to provide the food the visitors require), you feel like India are searching for an excuse,” he said. Hayden said the controversy generated by Shikhar Dhawan in Brisbane, was a reflection of India’s timid approach. “Shikhar Dhawan not coming out to bat on day four in Brisbane speaks of his mindset. Fear of failure is more often than not a powerful motivator and the great players like Steve Waugh use that to their advantage,” said Hayden.

Clarke dons the role of a commentator
Michael Clarke will join the Wide World of Sports commentary team for the Boxing Day Test. Clarke will take on the role throughout the third Test, providing an unique insight into his teammates and opponents. Clarke is excited about the prospect of joining the commentary team for arguably the biggest event on the Australian sporting calendar. “I’ll have a very different view of the Boxing Day Test this year,” he wrote in his News Limited column.