“We’re all excited about what lies ahead”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Australia captain Michael Clarke is confident that his side can retain the Ashes following their dominant performance against the West Indies.

Even though Australia have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001, Clarke is hoping that the drought will end this year, especially after the Baggy Greens whitewashed the West Indies 2-0.

“I think I’m allowed to talk about (the Ashes) now,” Clarke said. “I was really honest and made it very clear I didn’t want it spoken about at all throughout this series and I’m extremely thankful and proud that none of the guys have spoken about it.

“I’d be lying to say it hasn’t been in the back of everyone’s mind, but the fact we’ve been really disciplined on playing really good cricket in these conditions against this West Indies team is a really good achievement from the boys.

“But we’re all excited about what lies ahead. I’ve spoken a lot about consistency away from home, I just hope this is the start of it.”

With everyone in the Australian team firing on all cylinders, Clarke is determined to ride the wave of momentum until it comes to a halt. But, until that time comes, Clarke will ensure to squeeze every last drop of success out of his team as they have dominated all their opposition over the last few months.

Clarke also pointed out that Australia will draw a lot of confidence from the fact that they whitewashed England 5-0 during the last Ashes series in 2013-14.

“Confidence is a vital part of any team and any squad. You have to earn that though,” Clarke said. “It takes a lot of hard work to feel you can walk out onto a ground in an international game and have success and once you get it you want it to stay forever. So you’ve got to ride that wave for as long as you can. You’ve got to accept in this game that there are going to be tough times.”