Not one for making excuses for the start of this World Cup campaign, but now there is a strong feeling within the Australian camp that it is time to get into business mode.
JL's Blog: Time for business mode
From the outside, losing the two practices matches against India and South Africa may seem disastrous, and while we will learn some lessons from those two games, they gave us a chance to brush off the cobwebs of jet lag and adjust to our new conditions here in the sub continent.
Arriving, the team brought with it a strong feeling of confidence after beating England 6-1 at home. The boys were settled and ready for the huge challenge lying ahead.
Despite the two practice games nothing has changed.
Just off the plane, playing India on a violently spinning pitch was hardly ideal, but it gave us an insight into what to expect over the next few weeks.
South Africa showed us the importance of capitalising on good starts, although the form of our captain and vice-captain was promising.
Training today was a marathon session which was orchestrated by the players themselves.
All of the bowlers ran in hard, practicing their crucial one-day skills and the batsmen played with positive intent.
Shane Watson's performance was breathtaking and also very, very promising.
With Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson roaring in off their long run ups, he looked like he was facing a pack of fourth graders; all due respect to the fourth graders out there.
Not that this is any criticism of our fast bowling brigade, because they had all of our other batsmen jumping around the crease like men walking up and down on hot coals, but rather an indication of how well Shane is playing at the moment.
He is in sublime form and now he has to cash in on this rhythm and score as many runs as he can.
Steve Waugh used to say, 'never, mess with form, because you know how hard the game is and you never know what is around the corner', and I am sure Watto will be heeding this advice over the next six weeks.
Currently in career best form, he is literally hitting the ball harder than I have ever seen a player hit the ball.
He is a joy to watch, not only for the runs he is scoring but more for the way he is going about his business.
In this world of 20/20 cricket, he should become the pin up boy for every young player out there who wants to make it on the big stage, because he is combining incredible power with outstanding technique.
In him we see an example of a player who is able to play all forms of the game because of his text book technique at the crease.
Often technique is neglected in this day and age, but Shane Watson is proving how important a sound technique and positive intent is, to becoming a run machine in all formats.
Australia will certainly be looking for him to apply his brilliant preparation to make his mark on this tournament.
Another stand out player in our preparation has been Steve Smith. In these conditions his hard work in the nets could pay off grandly.
Over his short international career he is coming to realise the importance of spending time practicing his art.
He has three facets which he needs to work on, so a strong work ethic is crucial for his development as a batting all rounder, who could also be brilliant in the field.
Such all rounders are rare but if he continues to work with the same intensity as he did at training today, then the sky is the limit for the young New South Welshman.
Playing Zimbabwe in our first game is, in many ways something of an unknown commodity because they have a number of players who our guys haven't seen before.
This said, the world of modern technology allows us to do our homework and we will be prepared and ready on Monday afternoon.
With a couple of days to go there are a few nerves around, but the boys are getting better prepared by the day.
The feeling in the camp is upbeat and there has been plenty of laughter and camaraderie within the group.
On an Indian tour, where the security is tight these days, the boys have to make a lot of their own fun and it is my gut feeling that this teamwork could become a strong catalyst to our performance this tournament.
Time will tell
From Ahmedabad
JL