Australian skipper Tim Paine, after a crushing defeat at the hands of England on Tuesday, said that it was ‘the hardest day of cricket’ he ever had.
The skipper admitted that Australia has an inexperienced bowling attack and they should use the defeat to learn from their hosts and try to perform better in coming matches.
"We would be foolish not to go through it and learn from it. But the best place for these guys to learn is on the job. As bad as it seems, and it feels right now, this can be a really big positive for us going forward, that we have gone through a day like this and the guys realize the sun comes up tomorrow and we get another crack at England in two days' time.”
Australia’s current bowling attack leaders have played a total of 21 ODIs, combined. During the third ODI, Pacer Jhye Richardson conceded 92 runs in just 10 overs while Andrew Tye was bashed for 100 runs in just 9 overs. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis leaked 85 runs in just 8 overs.
"Everything we tried didn't work, everything they tried came off. Normally that happens for an hour or two then you get a couple of wickets. But for it to happen as long as it did, you have to take your hat off. They struck the ball as well as I have ever seen. That was three or four guys having an absolute day out all at the same time," added the Australian captain.
Paine insisted on the importance of staying calm in such a high-pressure situation and said that it is obvious for one to lose his line and length when the batsmen are in such a form. He went on to appreciate the fielding department which, according to him, performed well throughout the 50-overs stretch.
The Aussies are going through a pretty rough patch and they will hope to save some pride in the rest two matches against England on the Riverside Ground on June 21st and Old Trafford on June 24th.