Australia coach Justin Langer hopes his side will be better for a “brutal” and record-breaking defeat by England in the third ODI in Nottingham on Tuesday that was “nothing like” anything he had ever seen before.
Langer said Australia, now 3-0 down in the five-match contest, “can’t have had a worse day” as it suffered a 14th defeat in 16 completed ODIs.
“It’s a shock,” said a stunned Langer.
“That is literally England at its best. It’s no fluke that they are No.1 in the world.
“I’ve never seen nothing like that. I was in Johannesburg when Australia got 400 and South Africa then got it, but that was just brutal,” he added. “Hopefully our young guys can learn from it — it doesn’t get harder than that.”
The upshot is that Langer has still to enjoy an international win as Australia coach.
Build a team
“I’ve known what the task is before this game, it’s to build a team and to get better,” said Langer.
“I’ve got massive respect for England and the way they are playing their cricket.”
He said the top three of Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales reminded him of the celebrated trio of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting who all played key roles in Australia’s 2003 and 2007 World Cup wins.
“Their top three are brutal,” said Langer.
“The way they are playing is reminiscent of how we used to play in our day with Gilly, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting at the top.”
Atrocious collapse
But Langer was adamant Australia should not have been bowled out with 13 overs left in their innings on the “best batting track in the world” on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to bat against the top and against spin,” he said.
“For us to get bowled out in the 37th over on the best batting track in the world — there was huge missed opportunities there for some of our batters. Can’t have had a worse day.”
Meanwhile, Langer said his job was to boost the morale of all his side ahead of Thursday’s fourth ODI.
“I have to look after them all, These are the days when you are like a dad not a headmaster. We’ll look after them.
“It was a tough day but we’ll keep chipping away at it tomorrow.”
