Aussies in UAE with a mission

Dubai: The Australian team have arrived in UAE with a mission to become the No 1 one-day team in the world, says skipper Michael Clarke.

Be it against Afghanistan in their first one-day match on August 25 at the Sharjah Stadium or the three-match one-day series versus Pakistan to be held in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, the team from down under are out to give their best, he insisted.

“We’ve all sat in meetings and heard the captain or the coach have their say, but it’s now up to us as individual players and as a team to do something about it. (It’s up to us) to realise we sit fourth in the one-day rankings, third in the Test rankings and eighth or ninth in the Twenty20 rankings,” Clarke said.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to get back to being the No 1 one-day team in the world, where we would all like to be.”

Steve Rixon, Australia’s acting head coach, who is replacing Mickey Arthur during the tour, echoed Clarke’s bullish sentiments.

“After we had a camp in Darwin, we left no stone unturned with regard to where we want to be soon. We want to be seen as the hardest working team in world cricket,” he said.

“We have set a target where we want to be and this is another stepping stone towards it. We are never going to take our foot off the pedal over here.”

Clarke, along with Afghanistan skipper Nawroz Mangal, will unveil the Etisalat Trophy at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today (August 23). Both teams will also practise under floodlights.