Remembering Michael Clarke's 161 vs South Africa

[Hasan123]

Almost 3 years ago to the date, Australias Michael Clarke scored one of the gutsiest centuries seen in recent times. He took short ball after short ball and yet found a way to a century. Clarke wasn't a great player of the short ball but still found a way to score and get Australia into a match winning position.

Showed what a champion of a cricketer he is. It's one of the gutiest knocks I have ever seen, it's rarely talked about. Just seen the date today and remembered this innings. Thought I would make a thread showing appreciation for a brilliant knock.

What are your memories of this knock?

 

[Ab Fan]

Brilliant knock...

Absolutely gutsy inning and won his team the series vs a strong SA side in their backyard.

Clarke's best till date IMO.

 

[AFM]

His 151 on the same ground in 2011 was of a much higher quality. Along with KP's Headingley knock, it's the best innings against SA I've seen in this decade.

 

[Mamoon]

Between 2011 and 2013, Clarke batted like a dream. Australia were in transition with their old players past their best and the younger ones like Smith and Warner were yet to come into their element, but he carried Australia on his back with brilliant batting and captaincy.

At Cape Town, he played two ATG innings. First in 2011 on a green-top, he scored a counter-attacking 151 at a SR of 85 when no one else in that innings could cross 50, and then the innings mentioned in this thread. A fantastic 161* amidst a barrage of hostile bowling by Morkel, literally taking blow after blow on his body because he didn't want to risk playing a false shot, since he wasn't in great form and hadn't scored a century for quite a while. He didn't let his ego get in the way because his sole focus was on batting Australia into a commanding position.

By his own admission, he only slept for a couple of hours overnight because he couldn't take the pain and was with the team doctor at 4 am in the morning with an ice-pack his shoulder. Without a doubt, one of the gutsiest innings of all time and a real triumph of the human spirit.

He may not be well liked by all quarters, but for me, he is one of the greatest cricketers I have seen in my life and I would have him over many statistical wonders who lacked his heart and guts.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

This one was for his team. Standout knock.

 

[Bilal7]

Between 2011 and 2013, Clarke batted like a dream. Australia were in transition with their old players past their best and the younger ones like Smith and Warner were yet to come into their element, but he carried Australia on his back with brilliant batting and captaincy.

At Cape Town, he played two ATG innings. First in 2011 on a green-top, he scored a counter-attacking 151 at a SR of 85 when no one else in that innings could cross 50, and then the innings mentioned in this thread. A fantastic 161* amidst a barrage of hostile bowling by Morkel, literally taking blow after blow on his body because he didn't want to risk playing a false shot, since he wasn't in great form and hadn't scored a century for quite a while. He didn't let his ego get in the way because his sole focus was on batting Australia into a commanding position.

By his own admission, he only slept for a couple of hours overnight because he couldn't take the pain and was with the team doctor at 4 am in the morning with an ice-pack his shoulder. Without a doubt, one of the gutsiest innings of all time and a real triumph of the human spirit.

He may not be well liked by all quarters, but for me, he is one of the greatest cricketers I have seen in my life and I would have him over many statistical wonders who lacked his heart and guts.

He was definitely one of the best in the world during that period. Those were both iconic innings and came against the best side in the world. I prefer the one he played in 2011 because of what followed. South Africa bowled out for 96 and then Australia bowled out for 45. Clarke deserved to be on the winning side in that game but Amla and Smith replied with their own epics to deny him the sweet taste of victory. He was out of sorts throughout the series until that epic 161 in the final game, in 2013. Showed great strength of character to get past his poor form and come good in a crucial game.

It is a little surprising that he played these innings because his away record generally isn't that good. He's struggled against spin more than pace, to be fair. It also must be said, Clarke basically pulled an AB and Khan when he played these two games. Batted at #5 despite being the best batsman in the team and Australia unable to find a #3 of any use, while only coming good with the bat once in a series. You can hate AB and Khan if you so wish but don't try to rationalize it when you're idolizing another player who has both their negatives.

 

[Hasan123]

Between 2011 and 2013, Clarke batted like a dream. Australia were in transition with their old players past their best and the younger ones like Smith and Warner were yet to come into their element, but he carried Australia on his back with brilliant batting and captaincy.

At Cape Town, he played two ATG innings. First in 2011 on a green-top, he scored a counter-attacking 151 at a SR of 85 when no one else in that innings could cross 50, and then the innings mentioned in this thread. A fantastic 161* amidst a barrage of hostile bowling by Morkel, literally taking blow after blow on his body because he didn't want to risk playing a false shot, since he wasn't in great form and hadn't scored a century for quite a while. He didn't let his ego get in the way because his sole focus was on batting Australia into a commanding position.

By his own admission, he only slept for a couple of hours overnight because he couldn't take the pain and was with the team doctor at 4 am in the morning with an ice-pack his shoulder. Without a doubt, one of the gutsiest innings of all time and a real triumph of the human spirit.

He may not be well liked by all quarters, but for me, he is one of the greatest cricketers I have seen in my life and I would have him over many statistical wonders who lacked his heart and guts.

He's also one of my favourites as well.

A shame his back gave up on him, otherwise he would have 10k runs in tests

 

[Hasan123]

He was definitely one of the best in the world during that period. Those were both iconic innings and came against the best side in the world. I prefer the one he played in 2011 because of what followed. South Africa bowled out for 96 and then Australia bowled out for 45. Clarke deserved to be on the winning side in that game but Amla and Smith replied with their own epics to deny him the sweet taste of victory. He was out of sorts throughout the series until that epic 161 in the final game, in 2013. Showed great strength of character to get past his poor form and come good in a crucial game.

It is a little surprising that he played these innings because his away record generally isn't that good. He's struggled against spin more than pace, to be fair. It also must be said, Clarke basically pulled an AB and Khan when he played these two games. Batted at #5 despite being the best batsman in the team and Australia unable to find a #3 of any use, while only coming good with the bat once in a series. You can hate AB and Khan if you so wish but don't try to rationalize it when you're idolizing another player who has both their negatives.

I don't know if Mamoon was on about younis or ab. But you can't deny clarke has shown more guts than AB in tests lol.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

I don't know if Mamoon was on about younis or ab. But you can't deny clarke has shown more guts than AB in tests lol.

You must have missed him standing up to Johnson...

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Between 2011 and 2013, Clarke batted like a dream. Australia were in transition with their old players past their best and the younger ones like Smith and Warner were yet to come into their element, but he carried Australia on his back with brilliant batting and captaincy.

At Cape Town, he played two ATG innings. First in 2011 on a green-top, he scored a counter-attacking 151 at a SR of 85 when no one else in that innings could cross 50, and then the innings mentioned in this thread. A fantastic 161* amidst a barrage of hostile bowling by Morkel, literally taking blow after blow on his body because he didn't want to risk playing a false shot, since he wasn't in great form and hadn't scored a century for quite a while. He didn't let his ego get in the way because his sole focus was on batting Australia into a commanding position.

By his own admission, he only slept for a couple of hours overnight because he couldn't take the pain and was with the team doctor at 4 am in the morning with an ice-pack his shoulder. Without a doubt, one of the gutsiest innings of all time and a real triumph of the human spirit.

He may not be well liked by all quarters, but for me, he is one of the greatest cricketers I have seen in my life and I would have him over many statistical wonders who lacked his heart and guts.

Bhai you make good points but you exaggerate stuff reg the players you dislike.

Take AB for example.

1. Played peak Johnson like a champ when everyone else fell apart.
2. Scored 164 against Pakistan in UAE to level the series (Smith scored more but guess what if ABD didn't click, Smith wouldn't have scored that anyway)
3. Played a super slow knock in Adelaide to save a test (Faf finished the game but ABD was super pivotal for the test to be drawn - how many ATG bats have such a knock in their portfolio?)
4. The very next game, he scored 169 in Perth to win SA the series
5. Was the 2nd highest averaging batsman in the India series...and he played a super slow blockathon to try and save SA in Delhi and was only out to a sudden spitting turner on a pitch that was docile all day long

And the list goes on.

Its just that he is way way way too talented that any failures seem like lack of heart. But he didn't fail as much as all and has some impressive performances in his career.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Bhai you make good points but you exaggerate stuff reg the players you dislike.

Take AB for example.

1. Played peak Johnson like a champ when everyone else fell apart.
2. Scored 164 against Pakistan in UAE to level the series (Smith scored more but guess what if ABD didn't click, Smith wouldn't have scored that anyway)
3. Played a super slow knock in Adelaide to save a test (Faf finished the game but ABD was super pivotal for the test to be drawn - how many ATG bats have such a knock in their portfolio?)
4. The very next game, he scored 169 in Perth to win SA the series
5. Was the 2nd highest averaging batsman in the India series...and he played a super slow blockathon to try and save SA in Delhi and was only out to a sudden spitting turner on a pitch that was docile all day long

And the list goes on.

Its just that he is way way way too talented that any failures seem like lack of heart. But he didn't fail as much as all and has some impressive performances in his career.

If ABD can perform like this without guts, imagine how he would perform with guts.

 

[Adil_94]

i think he batted with a broken shoulder in this knock after Morkel has battered him with a barrage of bouncers. A gritty true champions knock. Were it not for his back issues he would have gone down as an ATG

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Michael Clarke carried the entire Australian batting line from 2010 until Warner and Smith became beastly. He might not have the best average but he's a champion in heart.

 

[Slog]

He's played two ATG knocks in South Africa

 

[Slog]

Michael Clarke carried the entire Australian batting line from 2010 until Warner and Smith became beastly. He might not have the best average but he's a champion in heart.

He averages 49 and played 115 tests which is clearly a record most would take with their eyes closed

But still with him I always have this feeling that a) he underachieved a lot, b) he didn't play nearly long enough

 

[Mamoon]

From the post 2000 generation and excluding the 2010 generation players like the Big Four today, Sangakkara, Smith and Cook are the only three batsmen I would have in my Test team over Clarke the batsman. However, when you factor in his captaincy, he trumps all of them.

Smith is an ATG with respect to both batting and captaincy, but for the better part of his career, he lead a top team and didn't have to deal with transitional crisis like Clarke did as soon as he became the captain.

 

[Hasan123]

You must have missed him standing up to Johnson...

No I didn't miss that. Of course he has shown fight in tests but during AB test career Amla,Smith,and Kallis have all outshone him.

Clarke literally carried his batting line up during his peak years.

 

[Stallion__]

You gotta admire his sangfroid and mental toughness. Century on a debut in India, two of the finest centuries in Cape Town, scored runs in New Zealand right after his high profile public breakup and on the driest of pitches in Chennai. Would love to have someone like him who can perform against all odds.

 

[Mamoon]

Rarely scored soft runs in his career. His best batting period coincided when Australia were at their weakest.

 

[vandokkum]

Michael Clarke has played some of the greatest test innings of the last 15 years. Magnificent batsman, clearly superior to some with better averages.

 

[Ab Fan]

Yeah, a thread made for remembering one of Clarke's great knock goes this way :-

He has shown more guts in his career than some other statistician marvel.

Its so unfortunate that we just cant find ways to praise a cricketer without diminishing other's achievements.

 

[Hasan123]

7 years ago this month. What a knock. One of the gutsiest knocks I have seen in test cricket.

 

[Varun]

I rate the 151 higher, the one in 2011 in that 47-all out game.

And then he came out in the presentation and said it was a "waste of time" because Australia had lost.

 

[Slog]

Definitely top 10 knocks I’ve seen / followed

 

[Savak]

He was disliked by all his team mates apparently. Tough task master, set very high standards and expectations but perhaps a bit too uncompromising

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Terrific player. Dude scored some of the toughest runs and against high quality Saffer attacks. I disagree with the idea that he underachieved . You cant do a lot more than that with severe, chronic back issues.

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

Amazing knock. He carried a weak Aussie team,which would've been strange for him considering he started his career playing in a goat side. He also was a great captain tactically but a poor man manager. No wonder he was influenced by Warne