Australia will have to figure out a way to find some batting form without their captain Michael Clarke yet again as they take on neighbors New Zealand in their ICC Champions Trophy 2013 game.
The Aussies were quite decent with the ball against England in their opening match, but woeful with the bat, which has been the main reason for their recent and alarming downfall.
With the retirements of stalwarts like Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, Australia, apart from Clarke, just do not have any world-class batsman in their lineup.
George Bailey will again be the stand-in captain after Clarke was ruled out of the game due to a back injury.
"Michael is continuing to have intensive treatment in London, and whilst he is making good progress, he has not improved sufficiently enough to play the game against New Zealand on Wednesday," team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. "We will continue to monitor his progress and determine his availability for next week's final group game against Sri Lanka."
Bailey and all-rounder James Faulkner were the only ones who put up any kind of resistance with the bat against England and the former will be hoping for a bit more contribution from the top order.
"I think for us to get back to playing our best cricket and get back to where we want to be, it's really about focusing a bit more internally, making sure we do the things that we want to do well.
"And batting is a good example of that because 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 Warne will bat to how Adam Voges and George Bailey bat.
"But to make sure that they go out and they're not too worried about how they're playing, it's just a matter of focusing on them playing as well as they can."
The Kiwis were impressive in their win over Sri Lanka, even if their batting wobbled a little, and skipper Brendon McCullum will be hoping for more of the same from his bowlers against the fragile-looking Australian batting lineup.
"Everyone is looking forward to the next game. If we win one of the next two then we should get through," New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee said.
"It's better looking at it that way than having to win the next two, but we obviously want to win all three. I think it's still the same thing in a tournament like this. You have to win almost every game."
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