Clarke holds firm amid prevailing uncertainty

Will it swing? Will it spin? Will it rain? Will Australia play four fast bowlers? Will India think of two spinners? A lot of questions doing the rounds, thanks largely to Melbourne's gloriously fickle weather.

Only a few days ago, the city was parched in drought. Then the Indians arrived, bringing the rain with them. Puddles have formed, temperatures have dropped, and the chill southerly wind has stung. Occasionally, the sun has come out. The forecast for Boxing Day is for sunshine but the locals won't count on it. Nobody really knows what to expect.

Tony Ware has been head groundsman at the MCG for 15 years and part of the ground staff for nearly 30. Even he doesn't want to punt on the weather. He reckons, however, that it will be a good batting pitch and would aid spin towards the fourth and fifth days. "We're hoping to get some bounce," he said, "but it should be ok if we get some good sunshine tomorrow. It just needs a bit of work."

Australians are turned on by a casino but few in Melbourne want to bet on the sun coming out. "Heads you win, tails I lose," says one of the securitymen with a smile. "It's that kind of game."

Michael Clarke is bolder. He's young, wears a sparkling ear stud and possesses a smile that can light up the MCG. And he's nicknamed Pup. He's the sort who would want to make a prediction.

"It [the pitch] looked a little damp," he said with exuberance. "There was a a little bit of grass at one end and it's bare at the other. The sunshine will probably dry it out, flatten it out. With the forecast good, it will be a very good pitch over five days."

Three years ago, Clarke bounded into Test cricket with a smashing hundred on debut in Bangalore. Watch the celebration and you'll notice the passionate kiss that the Baggy Green got on his reaching the landmark. Watch the innings and you'll see a twinkle-toed batsman, supremely confident against spin.

"It comes to mind, my success against India" he said about that series. "And my success was because of my preparation - assessing conditions, knowing what their bowlers did. But, I haven't played India in Australia. I'm going to have to be very patient and try and put the pressure back on them. I'll have to move my feet and play my natural game."

Australia's batsmen had little trouble against Muttiah Muralitharan recently but Clarke didn't think much could be read into that hammering [4 for 400 off 116 overs]. "Brisbane and Hobart didn't turn too much," he said. "Also against Murali we had two guys set. Most great players do the most damage bowling to new batsmen. It's not easy starting against spin. Having said that, we played Harbhajan [Singh] pretty well in India, and the guys have had success with Anil [Kumble]."

Clarke didn't face either Shaun Tait or Mitchell Johnson at the nets today but wasn't complaining. "I was happy I wasn't facing them, they were both bowling quick," he beamed. "We'll probably have to wait till game day to see which of them plays depending on the conditions."

He's spent the last two days preparing for India's seamers, particularly the left-armers who would be angling the ball away from his body. It's an angle that England's batsmen struggled to come to terms with during India's victorious series there but Clarke felt he would be prepared. "The opportunity to face Chaminda Vaas in the recent series against Sri Lanka will hold us in good stead," he said. "We did a lot of work with the bowling machine too, setting the left-armers' angle."