Losing to England has given the kick in the pants we needed: Brett Lee
By Ahmer Khokhar
Brett Lee speaks about Australia's chances in the ICC CWC after their loss to England in the Commonwealth Bank finals:
How do you explain England's astonishing revival to win the Commonwealth Bank one-day series?
Our
last ten days have been different and more challenging to what we are
used to. Our form hasn't been up to our best standard and we lost three
consecutive matches against England. We weren't up for the two finals
and were definitely complacent. We obviously had some great preparation
leading into the series but just on those days we couldn't perform.
How
do you assess Australia's form going into the Commonwealth Bank one-day
series and the forthcoming World Cup in the Caribbean?
We
haven't played out best cricket recently. We said that right from the
time we lost the first final against England last Friday. Ricky
(Ponting) called us into a huddle during the second drinks break and
said if we didn't pull our fingers out, things would go downhill pretty
quickly.
The way we played during the five Ashes Test matches,
at any stage, we could always find a way to get ourselves out of a
sticky of situation. It just wasn't happening in the one-day
internationals.
What do you think about Australia's prospects of winning a fourth ICC Cricket World Cup?
It's
at the top of our Christmas list, to try and win the ICC CWC and defend
the trophy we won in South Africa four years ago. But the way England
beat us in the Commonwealth Bank Series just goes to show that if we
aren't on song for one particular day or night, we could be out of the
tournament.
I think now we can put the tri-nations series behind
us and look forward to playing the Chappell-Hadlee series in New
Zealand and hopefully winning the ICC CWC again too.
How much of a loss is Andrew Symonds' injury?
It's
an enormous loss because the way he plays, he is adaptable to any
situation in a match. He will be sorely missed but Shane Watson is an
adequate replacement. Symo has been working very hard in the gym even
after his operation so hopefully he will be fit for the ICC CWC.
As a team are you too focused on winning the ICC CWC?
We
have spoken about the tournament but we have the Chappell-Hadlee series
before then. Hopefully losing the Commonwealth Bank Series has given us
the kick in the pants we needed.
comment:
p_commentcount