'Captain Courageous" Clarke vows to play with 'killer instinct' in Tests

Dominica (West Indies), Apr 22(ANI): Australia captain Michael Clarke believes his decision to declare behind the West Indies total in the Barbados Test, and then setting them a target of 215 from 61 overs in Trinidad on the last day shows the positive mindset of his team.

Clarke said a Test match could become more interesting if it is played with a positive attitude, and his players enjoy playing it this way.

"We head into the third Test at Dominica tomorrow buoyed by the belief that our winning attitude can bring us more success. It may look like we have been gambling, declaring behind in Barbados and then setting the West Indies a target of 215 from 61 overs in Trinidad before rain ruined the match," Clarke wrote in his column for the Herald Sun.

"But this is a reflection of our positive mindset. When I told the team what I wanted to do on the final day of the second Test everyone got on board. Our batsmen had been willing to sacrifice their wickets trying to push the score along so we could set up the match," he added.

Clarke said he was confident of his spinners Michael Beer and Nathan Lyon to guide them to victory.

"As it was the Test was nicely balanced, with opposing captain Darren Sammy accepting the challenge, but we firmly believe our spinners, Michael Beer and Nathan Lyon, would have bowled us to victory," Clarke writes.

"This is the way we want to play our cricket. Sometimes draws happen, but as we have shown on this tour we will push for victory whenever we reasonably can. That's not difficult with this team because everyone enjoys the game far more playing positively," he added. (ANI)