Stand-in captain George Bailey insisted now was not the time for Australia "panic stations", despite their crushing opening Champions Trophy defeat by England.
Australia, bidding to win a third straight Champions Trophy, will look to get their Group A campaign back on track against New Zealand — the team they beat in the 2009 final in South Africa — at Edgbaston today.
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George Bailey
The manner of Australia’s 48-run defeat by England at Edgbaston last week, and the fact they suffered another poor top-order display in the absence of injured captain and star batsman Michael Clarke, led to many dire forecasts about what might happen to the side in the Ashes series starting next month. “We’re not playing the cricket we’d like to play,” Bailey told reporters at Edgbaston yesterday.
“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. The loss hurt us as much as anyone, more than anyone.”
Clarke to miss out
Meanwhile, Australia captain Michael Clarke remainedu00a0sidelined from Champions Trophy action after he was ruled out of today’s match against New Zealand, Cricket Australia said in a statement yesterday.u00a0
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