ICC WC still a reality, says Paine despite England drubbing

Manchester (London) [United Kingdom], June 25 (ANI): Despite slumping to a crushing 0-5 series whitewash against England in the five-match ODI series, Australian skipper Tim Paine believes that it would be too early to write off his side from the upcoming 2019 ICC World Cup.

Expressing faith on his side, Paine emphasized that the Australian side-- who are going through a tough phase following a ball-tampering scandal--know what it takes to win big tournaments.

"We've got a number of players who weren't in this squad who have played in and won World Cups. They know what it takes. Cricket Australia as an organization knows what it takes and whilst I've heard a few times this team looks like it hasn't got a plan or doesn't know where it's going, we've got a clear direction, we know where we're going," cricket.com.au quoted Tim Paine, as saying.

"We know we're a long way off the mark at the moment but the World Cup is not for 12 months. We know when we get our best team on the park, when we're playing our best cricket we're going to be right in the thick of it," he added.

Following the suspension of former captain Steve Smith and former vice-captain David Warner in the ball-tampering scandal, Australia have already been facing bad phase, and a clean sweep in the five-match series against England has only made things worse for them.

The Baggy Green displayed a poor batting performance in the fifth and final ODI as they failed to even complete 50 overs and were bundled out for 205 runs.

In reply, Australia made a solid comeback and perfectly placed themselves in the winning position by wrapping eight English players for 114 runs.

But it was in-form English batsman Jos Buttler (110), who came to the team's rescue by stitching a crucial ninth-wicket partnership of 81 runs with Adil Rashid to help his side complete a series whitewash with a wicket win over Australia.

The two teams will now lock horns in one-off T20I match, which is slated to be held at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground on June 27.

On a related note, the 2019 World Cup is slated to be held from May 30 and will run till July 15.(ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI