The Ashes: Aussie build-up hit by Michael Clarke dissent charge
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Your support makes all the difference.As if Australia's build-up to the Ashes in the summer wasn't bad enough, the prelude to the return series on home soil is not going much better. Most of the team are still in India and getting very tired after the hosts twice chased down 350 in the one-day series. The decider is in Bangalore with the series tied at 2-2. Only then can they return to proper first-class cricket and prepare for a daunting Test series.
The captain, Michael Clarke, stayed at home over concerns about his bad back but he has at least spent some time at the crease. However, he has not covered himself in glory. Despite compiling a hard-working 88 in his first innings back for New South Wales, he has now been reprimanded for showing dissent at an umpire's decision in the Sheffield Shield match.
He was reported for using the "T" gesture to ask for the Decision Review System when an umpire gave a Tasmanian batsman not out for a low catch in the gully. Shield matches are not televised and a third umpire is not used, so his actions were regarded as a form of dissent.
"As part of the code of behaviour revisions, if any player uses the 'T' sign, in jest or not, it will lead to an automatic report as it shows dissent at the umpire decision," Cricket Australia said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the precarious nature of Australia's build-up to the first Test against England in Brisbane on 21 November has been highlighted by the decision to recall Mitchell Johnson from the tour of India in order to give the veteran left-arm seamer more time to bowl with the red ball before the Ashes begins. The 32-year-old was not selected for the Test series defeat in England last summer but has been impressive on the subcontinent.
There was some good news, however, as Cricket Australia revealed that the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground has sold out and the world record for attendance on a single day could be broken. The current record stands at 90,800, also at the MCG, for a Test match against West Indies in 1961.
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