Haven't hit panic button yet: Bailey

 Australia’s stand-in skipper George Bailey on Tuesday said the defeat against England in their Champions Trophy opener does not mean that they have reached the panic station.

The defending champions must defeat New Zealand on Wednesday to remain in the semifinal hunt and Bailey is keen to see that his side plays its best cricket.

“We’re not playing the cricket we’d like to play. Probably the best way to get over that would be to win this tournament. I think we only lost the first game thus far, so we’re not at panic stations just yet,” Bailey told reporters. “The loss hurt us as much as anyone, more than anyone. We don’t want to be losing to England, we don’t want to be losing to anyone, but more so than the loss, the challenge is to be playing our best cricket,” he added.

Bailey sought to give his batsmen a sense of security and urged them to play their best.
“I think the challenge is when you’ve had a couple of poor batting performances that guys start to doubt their place on the team or their roles on the team, and what we want our guys to do is to go out and have that absolute clarity.’’

“That real freedom to bat the way we know that they bat, and that’s different from how Shane Watson and David Warner will bat to how Adam Voges and George Bailey bat,” he said.

Bailey also acknowledged that the Kiwi side was a tough nut to crack as they are coming into the tournament with 2-1 series win against England.

He was aware that Kiwi pacers — Mitchell McClenaghan and Kyle Mills — need to be tackled smartly. “They’re in good form. I think both their opening bowlers have been in pretty good touch.Kyle Mills is shaping the ball and I guess a bit of a one-day stalwart for New Zealand.’’

“And Dan Vettori is always someone that we will respect, pay the utmost respect to and play him really watchfully. They’re playing some really consistent cricket. They’re not relying too heavily on any one player, which is always a key,” he said.