James Faulkner the new Michael Bevan

Quick Single: Faulkner caught up in the moment

Quick Single: Watch the final two thrilling overs

Australia’s latest cricket hero reckons the endorsement by his skipper as ‘the new Michael Bevan’ is more a dig at his penchant for remaining not out at innings end than his claim to be the next expert finisher in the limited-overs arena.

Faulkner delivered his country a stunning win in a game that England had set up for its taking, with a remarkable innings of 69 not out from 47 balls that enabled them to chase down a target of 300 with a solitary wicket and three balls to spare in game two of the Carlton Mid ODI Series at the Gabba.

The fact that Faulkner and last man Clint McKay added 66 for the final wicket from just 33 balls led Clarke to liken the Tasmanian all-rounder to Bevan who established a reputation as the most clinical finisher the one-day game has seen.

But Faulkner was keen to set the record straight, claiming the comparison might owe more to dressing room humour than being formally ordained.

“He (Clarke) has been getting into me over the last six months over in England as well, even in the tour games I kept getting 10s and 20s not out,” Faulkner said tonight.

“It’s a little joke running around the team so I wouldn’t read too much into it.”

Faulkner was also keen to downplay the adulation immediately after his heroic knock that contained five memorable sixes, and instead heaped praise on his batting partner.

“Once again Clint McKay hung around, he’s got a beautiful forward defence and we saw it again tonight,” Faulkner deadpanned.

“I’ve been in that situation a fair few times now being the all-rounder when you bat at the end, and a lot of times I haven’t been successful and I’ve stuffed up the game.

“Needing 12 off the last over, that’s still a fair few ones.

“So it’s nice to get the boys over the line this evening, I thought it was a great team effort to chase down 300.”

He said the recent rule changes to the 50-over game, with a new ball available from each end and only four fielders allowed outside the restrictive fielding circle – a change that caught out Clarke and the Australians to their cost today – had changed the dynamic of the one-day game.

“So we’re going to see a lot of high scores being chased down in the future,” he said.

And despite being relegated to 12^th man duties for each of Australia’s five Ashes Test victories, Faulkner claimed it was a privilege to be a part of a winning dressing room and even acknowledged the work of the team’s support staff that had effectively kept him on the sidelines.

“It was good to be around the group throughout the Ashes and the way they kept the same eleven on the ground was a credit to everyone involved,” he said when asked if it was nice to finally be out in the middle when a special winning moment arose.

“Having said that, I thought I stirred a pretty good brew as 12^th man for the whole five Test matches.”