Aussies ponder failings as lean run continues

Australia arrived in England with one of the least-experienced bowling attacks in the country's long and proud ODI history, but it is the batting that has proved the most vexing issue for a side that finds themselves 2-0 down.

Justin Langer's side now must win Tuesday's third ODI at Trent Bridge to avoid surrendering a fourth successive one-sided series.

Saturday's 38-run defeat in Cardiff saw Australia slip to a seventh defeat in their past eight ODIs against England, and they have now lost 13 of their past 15 ODIs that have generated a result.

Those two wins, against India away and England at home, were consolation victories that came after the series had already been decided.

And Australia, winner of five World Cups, including the last tournament in 2015, have not won a bilateral ODI series since they beat Pakistan at home in early 2017.

Rejuvenated No.3 batsman Shaun Marsh struck a brilliant century in Cardiff – his 131 was his first ton in ODI cricket in nearly five years – and he built a platform before accelerating in the final 10 overs in a 116-ball knock that featured 10 fours and three sixes.

But Marsh had scant support from teammates, with the next best score in the top five the 21 scored by D'Arcy Short, who was on ODI debut.

Ashton Agar hit 46 to be Australia's second highest run-scorer, slotting in at No.7 above Tim Paine who needed stitches on the in and outside of his lip after he was hit in the face by a ball in a freak accident.

Despite conceding 8-342, Paine said the total was one within reach of Australia's batters.

"We would obviously have liked to have restricted them to less, but the way Shaun Marsh batted showed we could have chased them down," Paine said after the match.

"We just didn't have anyone go with him until Ashton came out there and got us back into the game.

"It would be nice to have a few more wickets when Shaun got going, it can be hard with the tail. But I thought Ashton played superbly and gave us a chance but unfortunately we couldn't get over the line."

Australia fiddled with their team balance in Cardiff, adding an extra batter in Short, which meant fast-bowling allrounder Michael Neser made way, while Jhye Richardson replaced injured Billy Stanlake.

Short's introduction meant he opened alongside Travis Head, which pushed Aaron Finch into the middle order for the first time in his 90-match ODI career.

It backfired as Finch missed a sweep shot and was lbw for a fourth-ball duck, but Marsh said he expected the same role for Finch in the next match.

An irony of the top-order problems was highlighted when banned batsman David Warner appeared on the Nine Network's pre-game coverage. His absence while suspended for orchestrating the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town has created uncertainty not seen in Australian ODI cricket in the past decade.

"It really hurts me not just (missing) cricket, but seeing the guys cop a lot of flak over what's happened," Warner said on the Nine Network.

"I feel I should be the one copping that brunt over there with them.

"Every time I walk out of the house I do feel like there are eyes watching me.

"But you can't keep thinking about that, you've got to get on with life and move forward. It was my fault and I accepted that and now it's about moving on and dealing with it in my own way and as a family."

Marsh said his century, on the ground where he also plays county cricket with Glamorgan this northern summer, was "bittersweet".

"We felt like we were in the game right until the end, unfortunately we just weren't good enough," Marsh said.

"We probably lost wickets at key times in our innings again and we couldn't really build big partnerships at the start. We'll have to be better in a few days' time.

"We know we need to improve a fair bit to get that win. We're heading in the right direction but we still need lots of improvement and hopefully we can see that in a few days' time and try and get back into this series."

With a World Cup less than a year away, and the personnel who are missing from this side, Marsh said the focus was on finding a winning combination in the immediacy over a longer-term view.

"We want to win and unfortunately we are just falling a little bit short at the moment," the 34-year-old said.

"We need to regroup over the next few days and work on the areas we need to work on and hopefully put in an all-round performance at Trent Bridge."

Paine said he was confident Australia would be able to reverse the recent trend of defeats against the world No.1 ranked side.

"I think we can, I really do," said Paine. "I think our best cricket is good enough to beat these guys, we just haven't put the complete package together.

"In the first game we didn't bat well and (in Cardiff) we didn't bowl as well as we would have liked."

Qantas tours of the UK and Zimbabwe

ODI squad: Tim Paine (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (injured), David Willey, Chris Woakes (injured), Mark Wood

T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

Qantas Tour of the UK

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

June 9: Australia beat Middlesex by 101 runs at Lord's

June 13: England won by three wickets at The Oval

June 16: England won by 38 runs in Cardiff

June 19: Third ODI, Trent Bridge (D/N)

June 21: Fourth ODI, Durham (D/N)

June 24: Fifth ODI, Old Trafford

June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)

Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe

July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 2: Pakistan vs Australia

July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 5: Pakistan vs Australia

July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 8: Final