One of the last people Stuart Clark spoke to before he jetted to the subcontinent for a this month's Test series against India was Glenn McGrath.
The template of Australia's 2004 Test series victory remains the most useful weapon the Australians have in their battle to restrict the home side's galaxy of batting stars.
McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz utilised a plan that was frankly defensive in nature, but which worked wonders against the blazing bats of VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag.
Rather than trying to hone in on any perceived Indian weakness, the Australians instead bowled to feed their strengths, while at the same time setting fields designed both to cut off the flow of runs and claim catches from anything airborne.
Also vital was an intent to restrict the flow of fours and sixes as much as possible, using the logic that Indian batsmen raised on a diet of runs in boundaries from fast outfields were liable to tire both physically and mentally when asked to run them.
"They did a great job and there's been a lot said about that and we realise that - they did an excellent job and we need to follow on that path and I suppose that created a way for us or way for bowlers to come here and be successful," Clark said today.
"I saw Glenn a little bit before I left, we've looked at footage and things like that and seen how they were successful and what they did and there's no great big secret to all that, it's hard work, being patient and not letting our egos get in the way.
"(The Indians) play a different style of game to what I suppose we're used to, where we try to knock it around - they do love to hit fours and things like that.
"There will be stages throughout the game where we can use our physicality."
Clark identified "hard work" as the touring side's theme for the series, and took the view that across five days, it may take until late in the game before the efforts of the quicks are rewarded by deteriorating pitches.
"That's the hard part, you feel like you've got to go out and knock them over, and sometimes the wickets are so flat that big first innings scores become lower second innings scores and you just need to deal with it," he said.
"It's a bit about putting your ego in the bin and just realising that's just the conditions you're playing in.
"The wickets tend to break up and become harder to bat on with that variable bounce, we saw in the practice game I bowled one that ran along the ground, that becomes the hard part for the batters as the game goes on.
"You might get those big scores in the first innings, but in the second innings it can be very crucial when the ball is not bouncing or one shoots and another goes round the ears."
