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MatériaMais Notícias

No último dia 25 de novembro, o Brasil de Pelotas optou em votação pela continuidade do presidente Ricardo Fonseca no cargo, estabelecendo a última reeleição possível do mandatário segundo a legislação do Profut, leipara regulamentar a responsabilidade fiscal dos clubes brasileiros de futebol.

Ricardo dirige o Xavante desde 2012 e conseguiu em seus anos à frente da equipe pelotense resultados esportivos (acessos em divisões nacionais e o vice-campeonato gaúcho em 2018) e estruturais, como ampliação e melhoria na estrutura do estádio Bento Freitas que segue em curso.

Mas nem tudo são notícias positivas em relação ao Brasil, já que a parte do caixa é algo que deixa Ricardo visivelmente preocupado. Em declaração dada ao Diário da Manhã, jornal pelotense, ele não só pontuou os problemas que tornam a administração do clube um verdadeiro desafio como chega a “pedir” um suporte maior da população local em relação ao programa de sócio-torcedor:

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MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo pode anunciar a contratação do goleiro Tiago Volpi, do Querétaro (MEX), ainda neste fim de semana. O clube encaminhou um acordo por empréstimo até o fim de 2019.

Na noite da última sexta, a Fox Sports do México noticiou que Volpi já tem acordo fechado para defender o Tricolor. O LANCE! confirmou que as negociações avançaram nas últimas horas e estão perto de uma conclusão, embora alguns detalhes importantes ainda precisem ser resolvidos. O vínculo com o clube mexicano vence em junho de 2020.

Tiago Volpi tem 28 anos e começou a se destacar no Figueirense, clube que defendeu entre 2012 e 2014. Ele está no Querétaro desde 2015 e é muito querido pela torcida, que já lamenta sua saída nas redes sociais. Lá, conquistou um título nacional, em 2016, e uma Supercopa do México, em 2017.

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O goleiro tem amadurecido a ideia de retornar ao futebol brasileiro há algum tempo. Seu empresário, Eduardo Uram, trabalhou para que isso acontecesse nesta janela de transferências.

O São Paulo enxerga em Volpi um goleiro com condições de se tornar titular incontestável. O clube estava decidido a não contratar uma nova aposta para a posição. Antes, chegou a conversar com o Santos sobre Vanderlei.

Após a saída de Sidão para o Goiás, os goleiros disponíveis no elenco são Jean, que terminou 2018 como titular, e Lucas Perri, cria da base que ainda não estreou no profissional. Lucas Paes, outro garoto, renovou recentemente até o fim de 2019 após um empréstimo frustrado a um clube americano.

علق محمد بركات عضو مجلس إدارة اتحاد الكرة والمشرف على منتخب مصر الأولمبي، على قرعة بطولة كأس أمم إفريقيا تحت 23 عاما المؤهلة للأولمبياد المقبلة في باريس.

وأسفرت قرعة الأمم الإفريقية عن وجود منتخب مصر في المجموعة الثانية مع مالي والجابون والنيجر. طالع التفاصيل

وقال محمد بركات في تصريحات عبر المركز الإعلامي لاتحاد الكرة: “القرعة متوازنة ونحن جاهزون لكل المنافسين ونمتلك جيلًا واعدًا وجهازًا فنيًا على أعلى مستوى ونتمنى أن يكون التوفيق حليفنا، ونلعب على البطولة وهدفنا التتويج باللقب والتأهل إلى الأولمبياد مباشرة مع كل الاحترام والتقدير لكل المنافسين”.

وأكمل: “لم يكن صعود المنتخب الأولمبي إلى نهائيات كأس الأمم المقرر إقامتها فى المغرب صدفة أو ضربة حظ”.

وتقام بطولة أمم إفريقيا بالملاعب المغربية بمشاركة 8 منتخبات في الفترة من 24 يونيو إلى 8 يوليو 2023.

ويصعد إلى الأولمبياد أصحاب المراكز الثلاثة الأولى في البطولة القارية، فيما يواجه صاحب المركز الرابع نظيره صاحب الترتيب ذاته ببطولة كأس أمم آسيا تحت 23 عامًا.

واختتم: “التصفيات الإفريقية كانت قوية وساخنة وقد شهدت خروج منتخبات كبري مثل، السنغال والكاميرون ونيجيريا والجزائر وتونس وجنوب افريقيا وبوركينا فاسو”.

Bill Lawry has remembered his friend and colleague Tony Greig as a great family man and a gentleman

Brydon Coverdale29-Dec-2012

Bill Lawry has remembered his friend and colleague Tony Greig as a great family man and a gentleman, and said he and Greig never shared a cross word outside the commentary box despite their memorable on-air banter. Lawry and Greig commentated together for 33 years on Channel Nine, a union that ended this summer when Greig was receiving treatment for lung cancer, and Lawry said he was “shattered” to hear that Greig had died aged 66.”Most of all to me he was a family man,” Lawry told ESPNcricinfo. “His wife Vivian is charming and he has four great kids. Every Test match in Sydney, the whole commentary team plus touring players, umpires, touring officials were all invited out to Tony Greig’s place and that will be greatly missed next week. That’s going to make the Sydney Test match very, very sad indeed. We’re shattered for his wife Vivian and his four children because we’ve become close over the last 33 years.”The repartee between Greig and Lawry became an iconic part of the Australian summer throughout the 1980s and 1990s and continued over the past decade. It was a relationship that was sparked when Greig joined the Channel Nine commentary team fresh from two years of captaining the World XI during World Series Cricket, and Lawry remembers well their first meeting as fellow commentators.”He walked in and said ‘you’re the Australian captain that lost 4-0 in South Africa aren’t you?’ And he beamed. And I said ‘yeah, and you’re the guy who gave up the captaincy of England for money’. I think from that moment on we were great friends because there was always a bit of banter. He won most times because his knowledge of cricket was far better than mine. He’s a little bit like Ian Chappell, he was a bit of a cricket vegetable. He remembered almost everything that happened, and I’m a bit more airy-fairy than those two.”The differences between Lawry and Greig made them compelling when on air together, and it was producer David Hill who first saw the potential of the Lawry-Greig team.”We had different views on cricket,” Lawry said. “Tony’s views were sometimes completely different to mine. But the point was we could have a bit of a challenge on air and as soon as we walked away we were the best of friends. We didn’t have a cross word in the 33 years that I’ve known him. He was just a gentleman.”He was fantastic because if you threw something out there he’d come in boots and all. There was no holding back with Tony. We laugh because originally he was well known for putting the key in the big cracks while doing the pitch report but his knowledge of cricket was outstanding. His record as an all-round cricketer was excellent and if you made a blue about something he was right on to you. He was always challenging but always a great friend.”On tour together as commentators, Greig would usually drive Lawry to the grounds – “he was a bit fast in the car,” Lawry remembers – and they spent most nights having dinner together. In Hobart, the Channel Nine commentators would traditionally get together for a meal at Greig’s favourite fish restaurant, and Lawry said the tradition was not continued during the recent Bellerive Oval Test.”He loved the deep sea trevalla, battered. We always had that,” Lawry said. “This year we didn’t go because it wouldn’t have been the same without Tony there.”It won’t be the same in Sydney next week, either, where Lawry was hoping to see Greig for the first time since last summer.”I was saying to Steve Crawley, our head of sport, yesterday I’ve really missed Tony this year and I’ll be glad to see him in Sydney,” Lawry said. “Of course I’m not going to see him and that’s very sad.”

علق طارق يحيى مدرب ولاعب الزمالك السابق على قرار اعتذار النادي عن المشاركة في كأس السوبر المصري.

وقال طارق يحيى في تصريحات لقناة “المحور الفضائية”: “القرار الذي صدر من نادي الزمالك يحمل وجهين، لو أنت مسؤول عن الزمالك وتشعر بما يحدث للنادي خلال الخمسة سنوات الماضية وما زال يحدث، سوف تشعر بالظلم الواقع عليه والقهر وستدعم هذا القرار لأن الزمالك كبير وجماهيره بالملايين ولا يصح أن يحدث فيه ذلك”.

وتابع حديثه: “نحن كل ما نطلبه هو العدالة، فكان يجب على مرتضى منصور أن يأخذ هذا القرار وكلنا معه، لأن الكيل طفح”.

اقرأ أيضا..ميتلاند يعلن غياب إمام عاشور حتى نهاية الموسم وعودته إلى مصر

وأكمل تصريحاته: “إمام عاشور أخطأ في الأهلي في مباراة ناشئين ولم يمر 24 ساعة كان القرار صدر وكان أهم لاعب في الزمالك، إنما ضد كهربا ظل الأمر لمدة شهرين ولم يجتمع، لو كانت اللجنة اجتمعت وأصدروا قراراً ببراءة، كان سيذهب الزمالك للإمارات لخوض السوبر، ما يحدث بعيد عن الحيادية والعدالة”.

وأضاف: “ماذا تعني جملة أمامك ساعة وترد علي، هذا نادي الزمالك، لماذا لم تمهل النادي الأهلي في قضية كهربا؟”.

وواصل: “لو كهربا لاعب في الزمالك وبدر منه إساءة تجاه جماهير الأهلي مثلما فعل مع جمهور الزمالك كان الأهلي سيصمت؟”.

وعن إمكانية انتقال إمام عاشور للنادي الأهلي قال: “إمام عاشور أعرف أنه زملكاوي وابن النادي ويحب النادي، نادي الزمالك أولى به، الأبيض لا يقف على أحد، وما المشكلة إذا وقع للأهلي؟”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Um dia após a aprovação do orçamento para 2019, a diretoria financeira do Corinthians detalhou os números das contas do clube em entrevista coletiva nesta quarta-feira, no Parque São Jorge. O diretor financeiro Matias Romano fez uma projeção otimista para o próximo ano e acredita que as contas fecharão no azul. Este ano, porém, ele prevê déficit de R$ 18 milhões (o clube não inclui nessa conta o pagamento do financiamento da Arena – leia mais abaixo).

Matias Romano afirmou que a situação financeira do Corinthians é estável e permitirá investimentos de peso em contratações para 2019. A folha salarial está prevista para R$ 12 milhões mensais. O dirigente disse o mesmo sobre a situação da dívida da Arena, segundo ele totalmente pagável e que terá um efeito diferente nos próximos anos.

– O Corinthians financiou em 12 anos e paga R$ 6 milhões por mês ao fundo que administra a dívida. É totalmente pagável. Daqui dois ou três anos, a Arena será o melhor negócio do futebol brasileiro – afirmou o dirigente.

O diretor também espera contar com um patrocínio master já no começo do ano e riu quando foi perguntado se o acordo estava próximo. Vale lembrar que o Corinthians passou 2018 completo sem patrocínio master na camisa. No orçamento, o Timão prevê arrecadar R$ 68 milhões com patrocínios, incluindo os valores pagos pela Nike, fornecedora de material esportivo do clube.

Confira abaixo os principais pontos sobre as finanças do Corinthians comentados pelo diretor, a dívida e os planos para 2018:

Situação financeira do clube
O Corinthians tem uma situação financeira absolutamente estável. Não temos nenhum salário atrasado. Isso é importante. Às vezes, fazemos atraso de imposto, alguma coisa, isso é ruim, porque traz ações negativas. Vamos fechar o ano com um déficit em torno de R$ 18 milhões. Evoluímos bastante. Fechamos 2017 com R$ 37 milhões. Reduzimos déficit e a dívida com relação ao ano passado. Importante é de um ano para o outro. Mas o Corinthians tem uma situação absolutamente estável, com capacidade para investimento e vamos terminar o ano bem. Esse déficit deve ser zerado nos primeiros meses do ano. Estamos no processo de zerar o déficit fiscal, e com capacidade para novas aquisições.

Dívida da Arena
A Arena é administrada por um fundo, não pelo Corinthians. Mas tudo que entra na Arena, com arrecadação, ele entra e sai no balanço do clube. Não influi nas nossas contas. Temos um financiamento com a Caixa e nossas prestações estão em dia. Chegamos a atrasar, renegociamos, tivemos uma facilidade. Durante três meses do ano, o pagamento do fundo foi menor, porque não tem arrecadação. Estamos terminando isso. Quando terminar vamos detalhar. Nos dá maior capacidade de pagamento e torna nossa situação de empréstimo melhor.

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Negociação com Odebrecht, empreiteira da Arena
A Odebrecht como empresa tenho certeza que gostaria de sair desse case também e ir para outros negócios, participar de outras obras. Isso é desejo nosso, deles. É o próximo encaminhamento para sair disso. A gente não sabe ainda quanto é o valor devido a eles, porque precisamos descontar aquilo que deixou de ser feito. A dívida é com o fundo, R$ 6 milhões por mês, e três meses com R$ 2 milhões. Isso está em dia. Como garantia temos sócio-torcedor, instrumentos que foram negociados para que não fiquemos inadimplentes com o fundo para pagar o financiamento.

Venda de jogadores, jogadores emprestados
O Corinthians vendeu ano passado R$ 109 milhões de jogadores e gastamos 26% disso com pagamento de jogadores.

Andrés disse que administração seria ousada
Ousadia não quer dizer só investimento. Para você cortar gasto, com política de salário firme, tem muita ousadia aí. Você pode ser precursor de um futuro para o qual todos vão ter de caminhar. Continuamos com a política de contenção. Rodriguinho ficou cinco anos aqui e jogou um ano e oito meses. Para você ver como às vezes é caro para ter o jogador. Emprestamos, voltou e depois se tornou a estrela que foi. Isso também é muito difícil. Às vezes você compra um jogador para ele estourar, e demoram. O difícil é quando muitos não jogam, a realidade hoje. Mas tem um planejamento para 2019, e o Corinthians vai honrar todos. Não deixaremos de pagar. A gente queria que o jogador vestisse a camisa e jogasse. Mas a camisa do Corinthians é muito pesada.

Vai investir pesado ou vai ter política de contenção?
A política vai ser mantida. A gente tem 22 jogadores que não jogam. Alguém falou que é moeda de troca. Odeio essa palavra. Não é moeda de troca para ninguém. Pode jogar bem lá. O Corinthians vai trazer bons jogadores. Vamos trazer grandes jogadores, estamos trabalhando para isso, mas sem abrir mão de política de contenção.

Cota de televisão
Está orçado em R$ 240 milhões, a cota de pay-per-view.

Participação do futebol na dívida da Arena
O Corinthians colocou R$ 9 milhões do futebol e orçamos R$ 6 milhões para o ano que vem, mas a ideia é não usar. A gente não paga dívida com o dinheiro do Corinthians, isso foi gasto com manutenção.

Folha salarial
A folha do Corinthians deste ano foi R$ 210 milhões, e estamos prevendo R$ 190 milhões para o ano que vem. Serão R$ 12 milhões mensais. Tem a economia com Sheik, Danilo, Vilson… Os emprestados levam mais ou menos 30% disso.

Tudo sobre

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Michael Clarke has declared his intention to give Matthew Wade further opportunities to bowl in Test cricket after he delivered an over of medium-pace against Sri Lanka in Hobart

Brydon Coverdale21-Dec-2012

Michael Clarke has declared his intention to give Matthew Wade further opportunities to bowl in Test cricket after he delivered an over of medium-pace against Sri Lanka in Hobart. Even by Clarke’s adventurous standards, his decision to introduce Wade into the attack as Australia searched for wickets on the final day was a surprise one, especially given that Wade had never before delivered a ball in first-class cricket.However, Wade was sharper than many people expected, and clocked up to 132kph on the speed gun as he sent down a maiden over just before the tea break. Clarke had been impressed by the way Wade had bowled in the nets during training and although he did not take a wicket, nor did he disgrace himself, and in his column in News Ltd newspapers on Friday, Clarke indicated that he would not hesitate to use Wade again.”He bowled with good pace. There are some opening bowlers around the world who struggle to reach the 132kph Matt generated,” Clarke wrote. “We’re going to see more of Matthew Wade bowling in Test cricket, that’s for sure. The only thing we have to figure out now is who will take the gloves, Phil Hughes, who did it last Tuesday, or Dave Warner?”Matt got me out a couple of times in the nets and got himself an over in Test cricket. It won’t be his last. He loves his bowling. And it reinforces my belief since I’ve been captain that it doesn’t matter how we get 20 wickets or who takes them to win the Test. If Matt gets some of those or Mike Hussey or Dave Warner then great. It’s like making runs. The tail makes important runs for the team, so every now and then the batters are going to have to chip in to help the bowlers.”Australia’s bowling stocks were especially thin during the second innings at Bellerive Oval, where Ben Hilfenhaus was unavailable due to a side injury and Clarke’s hamstring problem meant his part-time spin was also out of the equation. That allowed Clarke to try something different and while it didn’t work on this occasion, unusual and successful bowling changes have been a hallmark of his captaincy.In 19 Tests under Clarke’s leadership, Michael Hussey’s gentle medium-pace has resulted in five wickets, compared to two wickets in the 58 Tests Hussey played before Clarke became captain. David Warner’s legspin has also brought four victims during Clarke’s tenure, and in the series against South Africa Clarke turned to Ricky Ponting and Rob Quiney for overs of medium-pace.Wade said he was “spewing” that he hadn’t picked up a wicket in his one and only over, and while he wasn’t expecting to become a regular Test bowler, he would be happy to roll his arm over again if required. He said given his short stature he was only likely to be used on skiddy pitches where batsmen might be troubled by the ball staying low.”I would like to,” Wade said. “The wicket was very up-and-down and I’m not the most gifted in the height department, so I think [Clarke] was just hoping I would get one to run along the ground. We’re off to India [next year], I’ll keep practising in the nets and hopefully he throws me the ball.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Na cidade de Taquaritinga, interior do estado de São Paulo, Guarani e Bahia ficaram no empate de 1 a 1 em jogo da segunda rodada da Copa São Paulo de Futebol Junior.

Com o resultado, o Esquadrão de Aço fica empatado em pontos com o Taquaritinga na ponta do Grupo 12 e, por sua vez, o Bugre campineiro tem apenas dois pontos e está na terceira posição.

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Ainda aos seis minutos de jogo, Victor Ramón abriu a conta para o time paulista e conseguiu sustentar a liderança no placar também pelas péssimas condições do gramado no estádio Adail Nunes da Silva. Com as chuvas no interior paulista, o campo ficou extremamente encharcado e a bola praticamente não rolou.

Já na etapa complementar, aos 25 minutos, Edmundo chutou e contou com um desvio na zaga do Guarani para deixar tudo igual em um resultado que foi bem mais favorável a equipe nordestina no aspecto da classificação.

توجه نادي ليفربول بطلب إلى رابطة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، فيما يتعلق بالموسم المقبل من البطولة 2023/24.

وحسبما أفادت شبكة “ليفربول إيكو” الإنجليزية، فإن ليفربول طلب خوض أول مباراة له في الموسم الجديد بعيدًا عن ملعبه “الأنفيلد”.

وأوضحت أن السبب في ذلك يعود إلى أن مشروع توسعة ملعب “الأنفيلد” بدأ في الدخول في أسابيعه الأخيرة، مع العلم أن تكلفته تصل إلى 80 مليون جنيه إسترليني.

وبدأ النادي بشكل رسمي العمل على زيادة عدد المقاعد والتي بلغ عددها في سبتمبر 2021، 7000 مقعدًا.

ويصر ليفربول على استكمال مشروع توسيع ملعبه، حيث إن مباراته الأخيرة في الموسم الحالي من الدوري الإنجليزي ضد أستون فيلا يوم 20 مايو ستكون بمثابة بداية لأربعة أسابيع من أعمال البناء المكثفة.

 وأشارت الشبكة إلى أن ليفربول واجه تحديًا كبيرًا هذا الموسم لاستكمال أعمال التجديد، في ظل كثرة المباريات على ملعبه، حيث خاض 30 مباراة على أرضه.

ولكن ليفربول استفاد كذلك من فترات التوقف الدولي في الموسم الحالي، وفجوة الأسابيع الخمسة الأخيرة بين المباريات على أرضه وخارج أرضه، كما ساعدت استراحة كأس العالم بين منتصف نوفمبر وأواخر ديسمبر.

اقرأ أيضًا.. آرثر يحسم مستقبله مع ليفربول ويصرح: أتمنى فوز برشلونة بـ الدوري الإسباني

ويدخل المشروع المذكور الآن مرحلته النهائية، وسأل النادي عما إذا كان في الإمكان خوض مباراته الأولى في الموسم الجديد بعيدًا عن ملعبهم، من أجل منحهم بضعة أيام إضافية لضمان تشغيل كل شئ بسلاسة وأمان.

وقال نائب رئيس عمليات الاستاد بول كوتيل للشبكة نفسها: “يتم سؤالنا كل عام، وقد قدمنا طلبًا لأن تكون مباراتنا الأولى في الموسم بعيدة عن ملعبنا، لم يتم تأكيد ذلك بعد من قبل الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، يجب أن أؤكد الأمر”.

وأضاف: “ومع ذلك، إذا تم تأكيد ذلك، فإننا نتطلع إلى يوم 19 أغسطس من أجل إقامة أول مباراة على أرضنا في الموسم الجديد، نحن نسير حسب الموعد المحدد، ولدينا ميزانية محدودة”.

Michael Clarke, who won the Allan Border Medal for the fourth time, hopes the Australian team will be winning more awards, rather than the individuals that form it

Brydon Coverdale04-Feb-2013

When a 23-year-old Michael Clarke won his first Allan Border Medal in 2005, it was hard to tell what was the glitziest thing about him – his spiky blonde-tipped hair, his bright yellow tie or that ostentatious diamond earring. They were the affectations of a man who felt he had made it. A rising star who had not only broken into the most dominant team cricket had seen since West Indies of the 1980s, but who had been officially recognised as its best player. Already, he felt he had outgrown the nickname “Pup”.Of course, Clarke hadn’t really made it, as he learnt when he was dumped from the Test team later that year. It was a lesson in the team being bigger than the individual. Eight years later that message has remained with Clarke, who is Australia’s finest Test captain since Mark Taylor, a four-time winner of the Allan Border Medal and arguably the best batsman in world cricket today. He is also in charge of a team that sits third on the ICC Test rankings, a position that seemed unthinkable when he first emerged.”It is an honour to win an individual award on a night like tonight but it’s more about the team,” Clarke said after being named Australia’s best player of the past 12 months. “I would love to see the Australian cricket team standing on a stage in the near future winning the best sporting team in this country or the best sporting team in the world. Something like that is my goal and I know it’s the players’ goal as well. It is nice to win another Allan Border Medal and just as special as the first time I won but I’d love to see the team up there winning awards more than individual players.”Few would begrudge Clarke the chance to spend one night celebrating his individual achievements over the past year, a period that continued his remarkable run of form since taking over the Test captaincy. In the near two years since he replaced Ricky Ponting as leader, Clarke has averaged 72.48 in 20 Test appearances and the only series his team has lost was the 1-0 defeat to South Africa this summer, a result that did not reflect how dominant Australia were in the first two drawn matches. But Clarke is not so enthused when reflecting on his time in charge.”I would have liked to have done better. We’ve played some really good cricket at times but we’ve let ourselves down in patches as well, in all formats, not just Test cricket, one-day cricket as well,” Clarke said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sit here and say ‘we’re fantastic, we don’t need to improve anything’. I speak regularly to the boys about every time we go to training we’re trying to get better, that’s the only way to become the best.”When I first came into the Australian team I was part of such a special team and we had so many great players and we were the No.1 Test and one-day team in the world for a long period. Those memories stick fondly in the front of my mind and I want this current Australian team to have that same feeling and be able to walk out on the field and know what it’s like to be the best in the world. That’s our goal and until we get there, I think we’ve got a lot of work to do.”And a lot of work in a short space of time. Next week the Australians fly to India for a four-Test tour, followed by a battle for the Ashes in England in the middle of the year, and another Ashes series at home next summer. It is an enormous year and one that will reveal much about the team Clarke is building, but the key to his personal success over the past two years has been not to look too far ahead. Despite the challenges on the horizon, Clarke doesn’t intend to lose focus now.”I don’t prioritise any tour. I know the Ashes we talk about in this country as the pinnacle, but as an Australian player every Test is exactly the same,” Clarke said. “Every one-dayer is exactly the same. I’m sure for the T20 boys it’s the same. The more you build something up, the harder it is to actually reach the top … My focus right now is on these three one-dayers against West Indies, then when I get on a plane to India it will be focus on India, nothing more, nothing less.”That too is an attitude that Clarke learnt early in his career. Making assumptions and looking too far ahead can be a dangerous habit, as Clarke found when he was dropped in late 2005, not knowing if he would ever find his way back into the Test team.”When I first came into the Australian team the senior players regularly spoke to me about not being in such a rush, being more patient and trying to be as consistent as I could through the good times and the bad times,” he said. “As a young player with no patience and always in a rush that was quite difficult. When I got dropped it made me stop and reflect on the areas I wasn’t giving 100% to help my performance.”I think that probably changed my attitude in regards to everything else off the field had to come second. Preparation has always been the key to my success and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way, to make sure my preparation was 100%, to get back in that Australian team. The scary thing about getting dropped is you never know if you’re going to play again for Australia.”