BIRMINGHAM: Australia coach Darren Lehmann has said captain Michael Clarke will get as “long as he needs” to come out of his batting slump.

Scores of 10 and three during Australia eight-wicket defeat by England in the third Test at Edgbaston — a result that saw the tourists go 2-1 behind in the five-match Ashes campaign, left Clarke with a meagre series aggregate of 94 runs in six innings at an average of under 19.

Following a match that was all over inside three days of a scheduled five, Clarke confronted his own failings by suggesting Austra­lia were playing with 10 men.

Clarke, who for much of his career had enjoyed a Test average of over 50 — the mark of an all-time great — is averaging a mere 18.80 this Ashes.

Indeed his average slipped to below 50 after this Test for the first time in three years.

And having been plagued by a longstanding back complaint, as well as more recent hamstring trouble, there has been speculation this could be the 34-year-old’s last tour.

But Lehmann believes the class that has seen Clarke score 28 Test hundreds has not deserted his skipper.

“He’ll get as long as he needs, he’s captain,” Lehmann said after Friday’s quickfire defeat. “We’re not going to panic, that’s for sure,” he added.

“But he’s got to play well.”

Adam Voges, however, is unlikely to receive similarly unequivocal backing ahead of next week’s fourth Test at Trent Bridge.

For all that he scored a debut hundred in the West Indies rece­ntly and has vast experience of English conditions due to time spent playing county cricket, the 35-year-old Voges’s average for the Ashes after three Tests stands at 14.60.

“Adam would be disappointed, like the other players are,” said Lehmann. “It’s a disappointing game for us and we’ve just got to cop the criticism.”

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2015

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