Clarke exudes confidence ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2013

Australia Captain Michael Clarke has admitted to the ICC website that he is extremely confident going into the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 which is being held in England and Wales in June.

The current champion of the eight-team event, the all-rounder said: “I’m extremely confident. I think our one-day cricket has had plenty of highs over the last couple of years and the occasional low but we know this is a major tournament and the Australian team generally performs at its best in big tournaments.”

Australia has won the last two ICC Champions Trophy events, beating the West Indies by eight wickets, in a rain-effected match, in the 2006 and 2007 final in India and then beating New Zealand by six wickets in Johannesburg in 2009. Clarke said there was no added pressure coming in as the current champions:

“I don’t think it adds any extra pressure, I think our own expectations are quite high. It’s a tournament we love playing in and we have had some success in the past and our goal doesn’t change, we want to win every game we play for Australia and this is a major tournament and we want to do our best to win.”

The 32-year-old from Liverpool, in New South Wales, admitted that the Champions Trophy was an extremely important event ahead of the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 which is scheduled to be held in Australia and New Zealand.

“It’s the second biggest one-day tournament that you play in and something that is very important to the Australian cricket team. It would be amazing to win it knowing that there is a World Cup just around the corner,” Clarke said.