Australia’s stand-in skipper George Bailey on Tuesday said the defeat against England in their Champions Trophy opener does not mean that they have reached the panic station.
The defending champions must defeat New Zealand to remain in the semifinal hunt and Bailey is keen to see that his side plays its best cricket.
“We’re not playing the cricket we’d like to play. Probably the best way to get over that would be to win this tournament. I think we only lost the first game thus far, so we’re not at panic stations just yet,” Bailey said.
“The loss hurt us as much as anyone, more than anyone. We don’t want to be losing to England, we don’t want to be losing to anyone, but more so than the loss, the challenge is to be playing our best cricket,” he added.
Bailey sought to give his batsmen a sense of security and urged them to play their best.
“I think the challenge is when you’ve had a couple of poor batting performances that guys start to doubt their place on the team or their roles on the team, and what we want our guys to do is to go out and have that absolute clarity.”
Bailey also acknowledged that Kiwi side was a tough nut to crack as they are coming into the tournament with 2-1 series win against England.
“They’re in good form. I think both their opening bowlers have been in pretty good touch. Kyle Mills is shaping the ball and I guess a bit of a one-day stalwart for New Zealand.