Clarke not looking ahead of Boxing Day

Washington: Australian captain Michael Clarke has said that even though Australia has regained the Ashes, he is not looking further ahead than the Boxing Day Test as he is wary of the gushing praise from fans and the media quickly turning against them.

A five-nil sweep would lift Australia, who won four of their 13 Tests in 2013, to third in the Test cricket`s rankings from the fifth position and give Clarke`s men the perfect build-up to their Test tour of South Africa in February. According to Fox News, Clarke said that he is not silly enough to think it is going to be `beer and skittles` for Australia from now on, adding that he is currently focusing on the Test match at hand as he has seen both sides of this game and is aware of how quickly a team can be praised by the media and also know how quickly it can be criticised. Clarke further said that at 32 years of age, he is mature enough to know that his job would come on the line if his men faces a couple of misses and as such he is under the same pressure to perform as before, adding that he also advises other players in the international scene not to look so far ahead.