Aaron Finch is convinced Australia can mount a comeback against England in their Royal London One-Day International Series – starting at Trent Bridge.
The tourists, already missing some of their big names and relatively inexperienced at the highest level, now find themselves 2-0 down after defeats at The Kia Oval and in Cardiff.
At 31, right-handed batsman Finch is one of the more experienced players in the Aussie line-up having scored more than 3,000 runs in 90 matches for his country.
He has seen encouraging signs from his team-mates and believes they are not too far away from getting it right.
“The frustrating thing over the last 18 months is that we have played really well in patches but then let the game slip, whether it be with the ball or the bat,” said Finch.
“It’s nothing new to us and has been happening for a while, so we need to put it all together and start to play a more complete game.
“England are playing some really good cricket – that’s why they are the number one team in the world. They play aggressively and try to put you on the back foot early, particularly with the bat.
“We have underperformed dramatically in the last 18 months in one-day cricket and there is no shying away from that.”
“But we have full confidence that if we play to our full ability and continue to push it through the full 100 overs, rather than the 60, 70 or 80 overs, then our best is well and truly good enough.”
Australia have dropped to number six in the ICC’s One-Day International rankings, having won the World Cup in 2015.
Finch insists that the stats don’t lie, but is confident better times lie ahead for them.
He said: “We have underperformed dramatically in the last 18 months in one-day cricket and there is no shying away from that.
“There is a lot of expectation from the public to perform but also internally from us as a squad.
“It has been disappointing, but all we can do is look to continue to improve and some of the things we have started to do has seen improvement, even if there is a little way to go yet.”
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T20 returns to Trent Bridge on 4 July with a 2017 Finals Day rematch of Notts Outlaws v Birmingham Bears. Tickets are £10 in advance for adults, £7 for over-65s & under-21s and £5 for under 16s. Secure your seats now