The Australian ODI team has dropped to the sixth position in the latest ICC rankings, a 34-year low, after losing the first two matches of the ongoing five-match series against England. To make the situation worse, the team could face further humiliation if they lose the current series as this would be the first time that Australia will lose four consecutive bilateral ties (minimum two games).

England, India, South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan sit ahead of Aussies in the latest rankings. It was back in January 1984 that Australia had dropped to the sixth position. The last two years have been pretty bad for the defending champions, especially in the 50-over format. the youngster just couldn’t sustain the dominance that their predecessors had on the opposition.

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The emergence of India and England as teams with a brand new style of play in ODIs also meant that the Aussies lost further ground. Australia’s demotivating record of 13 defeats in 15 completed ODIs is also unusual in their rich history which has seen them lift the 50-over World Cup a record five times.

But current skipper Paine has said that he is confident of the side fighting back in the current series against England. He said, “I think we can, I really do. 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.”

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It was a sentiment echoed by experienced batsman Shaun Marsh, who said: “We want to win and unfortunately we are just falling a little bit short at the moment. 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-around performance at Trent Bridge. Hopefully, Bill will be right for the next game.”