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Aussie captain and coach want youngsters to rise to occasion. posted under: Australia | All news Australia’s captain Michael Clarke and coach Mickey Arthur have urged youngsters in the team to give a solid performance in the upcoming 5-ODI series against hosts England, before they return for the Ashes. The likes of Peter Forrest, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson will have a huge chance to impress their coach and captain in the three warm-up games they play before the series starts on June the 29th. A good performance here and now will guarantee them a future eleven spot in a young and fresh team. Veterans Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey will be missing from the familiar line-up after Ponting was omitted and Hussey dropped out for family reasons. Both 37-year-olds have 556 ODIs between them, which no doubt will bring a lot more experience to the side, but then again, there’s the age factor. Right after the team’s arrival at England, Arthur spoke at a conference and was quoted saying: “It (Ponting and Hussey’s absence) changes the dynamics quite a bit and that is why we are looking for other players to stand up and take over that responsibility. “Michael and Ricky are not going to be around forever so this gives the guys out here a chance to stake their claims and an opportunity to make their mark and show us they belong.” Michael Clarke was also present and was quoted saying that the young players had to grab whatever chances they got after a 2-2 draw in a 5 ODI series in the Caribbean left them slightly on the back foot. He spoke about the youngsters getting a little more experience since summer. “I think they did that throughout the one-day summer (in Australia) once Ricky was dropped from the team, we managed to go on and win that tri-series for Australia,” he said. “The boys went to West Indies and did a pretty good job in tough conditions, and again it's going to be new for a lot of players to play in English conditions.” Playing the young, less experienced players is a brave move by the captain and coach and will definitely give them a lot more confidence in the future on the seam friendly pitches of England. Australia’s first warm-up match will be against Leicestershire and they will face Ireland and Essex before going on to the series next week. Type Your Comments be the first to Comment