Having earlier given Brew an autograph, Clarke was unimpressed when, after refusing to lend his bat for a photo shoot, the teenager quipped: ''Why not? You never use it in the middle.'' Yesterday's incident was the latest in a summer to forget for Clarke. While captaining his country in a Test for the first time was a highlight, it came amid a lean run with the bat which yielded just 193 runs at 21.44 during the Ashes. Last Sunday he suffered the ignominy of being jeered on home soil just days after receiving a stinging public rebuke from Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland for showing a ''supreme lack of judgment'' by attending a charity function on the morning of the Boxing Day Test. Clarke said he would happily cop more flak from impatient fans not happy with his scoring rate if it meant he was doing the job for his team.

''What's important for me as the captain of this team right now is to do whatever it takes to help Australia win every game of cricket we play,'' he said. ''When I first walked out to bat, the ball was reverse-swinging a little bit. It wasn't the easiest of conditions to walk out and just smack it. ''Watto [Shane Watson] was playing an amazing knock and my role was to get up the other end and try not to lose wickets, try to build a partnership. ''If people want to see fours, sixes and wickets taken every ball, that's not international cricket. My role will be the same it has been over the 180 one-dayers I've played, to play the best type of cricket I can for the team, try to help win the game. ''If it means I need to go steady, I go steady. If it means I come in early and need to maximise the power play, well then I maximise the power play.'' Clarke denied Watson's match-winning 161 last Sunday ''papered over the cracks'' of an Australian team which leaked runs with the ball and in the field.

''I certainly don't think it hid any cracks, it was exactly what we're after,'' Clarke said. ''We've said openly that we play our best one-day cricket when someone in the top four makes a big score. Our bowling and our fielding for the first 30 overs of the game was as bad as I've seen and played in. The whole team is aware of that, but as a batting unit I thought we went about it the right way.'' Australia have another six one-dayers against England, starting with today's game in Hobart, and two practice matches on the subcontinent to rectify matters before they start their defence of the World Cup on February 21. Loading ''Our main focus is to win this game,'' Clarke said. ''That's got to be our focus - to try and win this series, and try and get that winning feeling back into the group like we did the other night and then we build momentum towards that World Cup. ''I think the guys that aren't playing will be working overtime in the nets … I think the guys that are playing will be 100 per cent focused on what's in front of us and then if we have an extra training day or have time in our training to be able to prepare for the subcontinent.''