New Australia coach Justin Langer says being beaten hurts but he is adamant his team is stronger after their ‘rebuilding’ tour in England.
‘I knew it was going to be a big job, knowing where we came from in South Africa,’ said Langer after the miserable tour that ended with a 28-run defeat at Edgbaston in a one-off T20I following a humiliating 5-0 ODI demolition job by a rampant English side.
‘There’s been some great learning and some really positive stuff that has come from this trip. On the surface, it looks like a complete disaster but we have talked about building a team that’s going to be ready for the World Cup and the Ashes and I think we have unlocked a few answers.
‘But it hurts when you get beaten, particularly in England.
‘If Steve Smith and David Warner and Mitch Marsh, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc come back in, all of a sudden, you’ve got 800 games of experience again and we’ve got a more experienced team,’ said Langer.
The next phase of Australia’s rebuilding is a triangular T20I series in Zimbabwe which includes Pakistan. Langer will need to build on the shaky foundations of their 6-0 disaster in England to prevent Australian cricket from becoming a laughing stock.
The Aussies chose to bowl first in this one-off T20I, and England pummelled their attack for more than 11 runs to the over. There were contributions throughout the batting lineup, but the big-hitting stars were Jos Buttler again (61 off 30 balls, S/R 203.33) and Alex Hales (49 off 24 balls, S/R 204.16).
Captain Aaron Finch was the only Australian to make an impact with the bat, smashing 84 off 41 balls (seven fours, six sixes, S/R 204.87), as his team fell 28 runs short of England’s target of 221.
The pick of the bowlers was Adil Rashid, who took 3-27 (economy 6.75), while David Willey’s four overs cost just 31 runs (economy 7.75). Chris Jordan also picked up three wickets, while Moeen Ali came back to earth with a bump after his heroics at Old Trafford, being smashed for 58 runs off his four overs (S/R 14.50).
Photo: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images
