Australia cannot miss 'one game of cricket' if they are to regain Ashes, says Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke feels it is imperative that the Steve Smith-led Australian cricket team play each and every scheduled game in their calendar if they are to beat England in the Ashes Down Under. The former Australia captain urged the current generation of cricketers to engage in the arbitration process proposed by Cricket Australia (CA) if an agreement on a new MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is not reached soon. In a pay dispute with the CA and ACA (Australian Cricketers’ Association) that has lasted for nearly nine months, Australia A’s tour to South Africa has already been cancelled. So, Clarke does not want the country’s professional cricketers to be deprived of more international cricket. [caption id=“attachment_3874161” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Michael Clarke. AFP[/caption] Australia’s last assignment was ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where they were eliminated in the group stage. After their first two games were washed out, they lost their must-win clash against England. Thus, the 115-Test veteran stressed on the importance of Australians getting some vital game time if they are to win back the Ashes in December. “This (Australia men’s) team cannot afford to miss one game of cricket if we want to beat England in the Ashes. “We need to go to Bangladesh (next month), we need to go to India for the ODIs (in October), and then we need to play our best cricket to beat England in Australia, which I believe we will if we’ve played some cricket together as a team,” Clarke told Channel Nine on Sunday. The New South Welshman believed it would be ‘silly’ of the players’ union to reject the promise of arbitration. “As a player, I’m saying if a deal’s not done by Monday afternoon allow it go to arbitration because we need this finalised,” added Clarke. Australia are scheduled to play their first Test in Dhaka on 27 August, with the second Test taking place in Chittagong on 4 September. They later travel to India to face Virat Kohli and company in five ODIs and one T20I in October.