Bailey's 1, 2, 3 of ODI shortcomings

Borrowing from UK newspaper 'The Independent' of 30 years ago and their then caustic cricket correspondent Martin Johnson, George Bailey has identified three major shortcomings in Australia's consecutive heavy ODI losses to South Africa.

Asked if he was able to pinpoint what had changed in his team's limited-overs form since arriving in the more familiar climes of southern Africa after winning six of seven 50-over and T20 internationals amid alien conditions in Sri Lanka, Bailey was as succinct as he was blunt.

"Three things (have changed since Sri Lanka)," he said as the team arrived in Durban to prepare for the potentially decisive game three at Kingsmead on Wednesday.

"We just haven’t batted, bowled or fielded very well yet."

Johnson infamously wrote something similar about Mike Gatting's Ashes touring party of 1986-87 that began its ultimately successful campaign against Australia disastrously, prompting the scribe to pen "there are only three things wrong with England – they can’t bat, they can’t bowl and they can’t field".

The fact that England turned around that indifferent early tour form and secured the Ashes 2-1 over Allan Border's young side might also offer some encouragement to the current Australia squad that has been soundly beaten by the Proteas in the first two outings of this five-match ODI series.

Quick single: Amla absence 'not my decision': Du Plessis

Having their inadequate 294 chased down in barely 36 overs by a rampant Quinton de Kock at Centurion last Friday night, and then failing to get within 142 runs of South Africa’s 6-361 on a belting batting strip at Wanderers two days later.

But as per the theme of the discussion in the tourists' dressing room at Wanderers Sunday evening as throngs of euphoric Proteas fans jostled outside for a glimpse of the victors climbing aboard the team bus, the battle for the trophy is not done yet.

And Bailey pointed out that Australia's track record in must-win limited-overs fixtures over the past two decades (in which they've secured four World Cups and two ICC Champions Trophies) starkly contrasts with South Africa's.

Who have famously fallen at the final hurdles in countless major international limited-overs tournaments and have developed an unwanted reputation for succumbing to the huge pressure of expectation in crucial matches as a result.

"We spoke about that last night," Bailey said of the notion that the world champions need only to replicate their performances from many a recent event to win the final three ODIs at Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town and lift the Momentum Cup.

"We think our record in knockout tournaments has been pretty good in recent history, so the way we're looking at it is we've really got a quarter-final, semi-final and final to go."

But while Bailey indicated that his team had been outplayed in all three facets of the game by their Proteas rivals who are also fielding a new-look line-up, he singled out a failure by the batters to turn positive starts into sizeable scores as the defining difference between the teams thus far.

As shown by the fact the four highest runs scorers of the series to date are all South Africans – de Kock, his fellow opener Rilee Rossouw, captain Faf du Plessis and allrounder JP Duminy.

Quick single: New caps earn stripes in bowlers' graveyard

While much of the criticism heaped upon Australia's impotence in the first two games has been focused on the inexperienced seam bowling attack that has included new caps Daniel Worrall, Joe Mennie and Chris Tremain, Bailey is in no doubt where a bulk of the blame truly lies.

"We’ve certainly got a young bowling attack but I think the thing that’s been the most disappointing is our batting the last two games," he said.

"We were under par in game one and (on Sunday), 360 is a big total but you saw it on that ground it was great value for money, the ball flew everywhere and our run rate was going pretty well.

"All the batters are hitting the ball pretty well, it’s just that nobody’s getting a hundred and the South Africans have had a guy score a hundred in each of those games.

"As much as the focus could be on our young bowling attack, I think it’s the batters who have got to step up."

After the trials all batters experienced on slow, dry pitches in Sri Lanka where timing was harder to find than a cooling breeze and only one score above 250 was posted in 10 ODI innings, the chance to switch directly to fast, true strips on South Africa's Highveld was a welcome relief.

But Bailey denies that he and his fellow top-order players might have become over excited about the prospect of rediscovering their stroke play, hitting through the line of the ball with impunity and watch it fly off the bat in the thin air at high altitude venues Centurion and Wanderers.

And fallen victim to their own excesses as a result.

"I don’t think there’s been any really audacious dismissals, we’ve just been getting out," he said of a pair of batting efforts in which only one player in the top six across both games - Steve Smith at Centurion – has been dismissed for failing to hit a ball that was headed for the stumps.

"I know the first couple of training sessions (after arriving in South Africa) we spoke about the fact we could hit the ball again.

"It was a bit of a shock to get into the rhythm of getting that value (for shots) and being able to play with some freedom, but I don’t think that’s been an issue.

"It’s just a matter of guys once they get that start, turning it into a really big score.

"And maybe credit needs to go to South Africa, they might be bowling more consistently and putting us under more pressure.

"I think we’ve got a really strong batting line-up, it’s time for us to stand up."