Moving on from defeat

World Cup failure means nothing in Ashes battle

JUSTIN Langer insists Australia have moved on from their World Cup capitulation at Edgbaston, where the Ashes starts tomorrow.

England cruised to an eightwicket win in their World Cup semi-final at the venue, reducing the visitors to 5-118 then hauling in a target of 224 in 32.1 overs.

The lopsided loss meant Australia’s World Cup defence, which contained plenty of promise and a group-stage win over England, finished on an almighty low note. But Langer dismissed the notion that match would have any bearing at all on the first Test.

“You have to put it behind you. We had a good campaign in the World Cup, now it’s Ashes time,” Australia’s coach said. “We were outplayed on that day and England were excellent, they ended up winning the World Cup so great credit to them.

“It was obviously very disappointing for us. We had the 14th of July tattooed in our brains for a year or so and we got to the 11th.

“We can’t have our tails between our legs for too long, we just didn’t have a chance to do that.”

Steve Waugh suggested fresh personnel would ensure the World Cup when it comes morning”.

“Whoever was going to win that World Cup, they were always going to say it was great for morale going into a Test match series,” Waugh said.

“Whoever lost was going to say it doesn’t matter. This is totally different with different players.”

Both sides is “irrelevant to Thursday have faced a range of challenges created by scheduling the 50-over tournament and five-Test showpiece series during the same season.

England opted to rest Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler for last week’s one-off Test against Ireland, wanting to ensure the stars didn’t suffer burnout.

Australia have also been mindful of the risks associated with over working their most important players.