[
www.cricbuzz.com]If you are overly disturbed by the sight of someone raining blow after blow on a victim seemingly unable to respond, then you might have turned away your head as Morne Morkel bore down on Michael Clarke, striking him with short ball after short ball. If, however, you take particular interest in the kind of primal, physical contest of one gladiator pitted against another then you would have been glued to the action.
South Africa's lanky pacer, operating at around 150 KPH, envisioned a bulls-eye in the area of the Australian captains ribcage and chest and propelled his missiles at the target with lethal precision. It was a torrid working over, and Clarke was lucky to have survived.
Morkel's offensive began in the 41st over, when he took over for Dale Steyn, who had to limp off the field after just one delivery with what we later found out was a hamstring injury. Morkel changed his line of attack from over to round the wicket for the fifth delivery of the over, and there started one of the most compelling passages of cricket in recent memory. His sizzling spell lasted 4.5 overs.
The 6'7" fast bowler has long been a purveyor of high pace and steep bounce but seldom, if ever, has he been able to focus his weapons with such deadly effect. Clarke was hit in the ribs, on the arm, on shoulder, hand, head, and in the gut. And those witnessing the bombardment from the stands or on television might have felt that preserving his wicket was the least of the batsmans worries. At the end of the day, as he returned to the pavilion undefeated on 93, he must have felt like he survived one of the most testing battles of his career.
Clarke had been targeted in this way before. The English bowlers felt, with some justification, that Australia's best batsman could be unsettled by an attack on the body. But this was on another level altogether, and it was only because of good fortune that he escaped with his wicket intact.
Good courage helped too, for after being solidly hit by one ball he still tried to get behind the next. Even when, David Warner, more composed than his captain, tried to shield Clarke from the onslaught, he showed he was not afraid to return to the firing line.
Rightly, Clarke was praised in many quarters for the way he stood up to the battering. It is not fanciful to imagine that there are less valiant players who would have sought relief by surrendering their wicket. Yet you got the impression that like a brave soldier fighting at the front of a scorching battle, who was prepared to give his life for the cause, the captain was willing to pay any price in service to his team and his country.
General George S. Patton once said, however, "the object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." The guts and glory exhibition was admirable, and Clarke showed all the courage it was possible to show in the circumstances, but he also showed that he still has not developed an appropriate technique to handle the bodyline attack.
Apart from the last test at Port Elizabeth, Mitchell Johnson has been as fast and as vicious as any bowler in history. When facing him, AB deVillers, the batsmen that appeared to counter him the best, made his back and across movement early in order to remain still as the fast bowler is about to deliver. Clarke, on the other hand, seems to begin his initial movement later, so that he almost seems to be still moving as the bowler delivers. A bad back may also be denying him some flexibility, and adding to his troubles is his practice of taking his eye off the ball, a habit that would have put him in even more serious peril if he were operating in the days before the helmet became commonplace -- an observation Michael Holding was quick to make.
It is easy, of course, for those of us safely ensconced in the stands or in the comfort of our living room sofas, to dissect the efforts of the best professionals while they are steeped in the cauldron of the contest. And since Clarke endured the trial, it would be reasonable to wonder what all the fuss is about. But I am sure that even the batsman himself would agree that his methods against the short ball have not been as effective as should be.
Clarke resumes on the second morning on 92 and chances are he will continue on to a well-deserved hundred. With his side at 331/3 he might have already pushed his side into a position from which they should not lose, especially since Dale Steyn might be out for the rest of the match. If Australia go on to win from here then the bruises and the pain would well be worth it.
