Australia have gone winless against England after losing their one-off T20 match to make it nine consecutive defeats across all formats, but coach Justin Langer insists: “There’s light at the end of the tunnel”.
Langer was appointed Australia’s head coach amid much upheaval in Australian cricket following the ball tampering fiasco of Cape Town.
Australia lost the last three Tests of that tour, and have now lost all six matches in England following the 28-run defeat at Edgbaston in the one-off T20 clash.
“I knew it was going to be a big job, knowing where we came from in South Africa,” Langer reflected at Edgbaston.
“There’s been some great learning and some really positive stuff that has come from this trip.
“On the surface it looks like a complete disaster but we have talked about building a team that’s going to be ready for the World Cup and the Ashes and I think we have unlocked a few answers.
“But it hurts when you get beaten, particularly in England.”
Australia’s batting talent has shone through in parts – Shaun Marsh struck two centuries in the ODI series, Aaron Finch hit one, and was brilliant at the top of the order captaining the T20 side with 84 from 41 balls.
But it’s Australia’s bowling stocks that have been hit hardest on this tour. Andrew Tye, a dominant force in T20s, was canned in the 50-over game, and in the T20 the most experienced international bowler in the group, Kane Richardson, was smashed for the second-most expensive figures by an Aussie ever.
