Even Michael Clarke could understand why a Gabba crowd booed the stand-in skipper before he helped steer Australia to a one-day series clinching victory over England on Sunday.
The woefully out of nick Clarke was savagely booed when he took the crease after a lean summer which included just 70 runs from four ODIs at 17.50 this series.
But Clarke gradually won over the 30,651-strong Gabba crowd in his knock of 54 as Australia went on to win by 51-runs and take an unbeatable 4-1 series lead.
“Obviously you would like people to be cheering but I can understand why a few of them are booing,” Clarke said after England were bowled out for 198 in reply to Australia’s 249.
“I haven’t performed as well as I would like so I don’t blame the public for being disappointed with my performances.
“It was nice to finally contribute and help the boys get a win – it’s a great feeling.”
Only late hitting by Steve Finn (35) and James Anderson (20 not out) in a 53-run 10th wicket stand helped England reach 198 before they were bowled out in the 46th over.
Shane Watson took 3-25.
Clarke had offered to dabble in Sydney grade cricket this weekend in a desperate bid to find form ahead of next month’s World Cup.
But he became the man of the moment at the Gabba thanks to an entertaining 74-ball knock, despite Chris Woakes’ heroics for England.
Woakes (6-45) grabbed the second-best one-day figures ever by an Englishman in only his second ODI.
Clarke said he didn’t think he had been doing that much wrong during his lean run.
“I felt I had been hitting the ball pretty well – I felt I was getting there,” he said.
“It was just nice tonight to get off to a faster start which allowed me to not stress about how many balls I was facing, and just keep batting.”
Clarke said he gained the most pleasure out the series clinching win, rather than his knock.
“It was a great performance. Everyone contributed,” he said.
“After a pretty tough start to the summer losing the Ashes series I think it shows a lot of courage for us to come back and play well in this series.”
But Clarke said he “wouldn’t dare” say he was finally over his batting slump.
“Tuesday I will be back at training trying to work on my game,” he said.
“I still think my batting can get better.”
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