Perth: Australia all-rounder James Faulkner has assured supporters that the team has assessed what went wrong against New Zealand and that they will return even more hungry for victories.
Australia lost to New Zealand by one wicket in a nail-biting thriller in Auckland on Saturday, ending the co-hosts’ unbeaten start.
But Faulkner, who is fit to return from a side strain and is expected to replace the injured Pat Cummins against Afghanistan on Wednesday, said: “Every time we play a game and things don’t always go to plan, we assess what’s happened. And I suppose exactly the same when we have a good game too. We assess the good things and the bad things to try and improve as a team.
“We know that we didn’t perform as well as we would have liked over in New Zealand. I suppose that’s going to make the team hungrier for the remainder of the tournament.
“So far, we have been very successful as a team. You are going to come over these little setbacks from time to time. Hopefully we can get back on the winning path on Wednesday.”
Faulkner suffered his injury during the tri-series final against England last month and has yet to play at the World Cup.
But on Monday he said: “I bowled a couple of overs pretty much pretty close [to full pace]. The difference is in the intensity of an ODI.
“I’ll look to have a solid hit out today and hopefully recover well and be ready on Wednesday afternoon. Anytime you get to play, it is obviously exciting and hopefully, on Wednesday, I will have the chance to play for Australia.”
Faulkner does not believe the time off from the game will have affected his form.
“Hopefully it does not have much of an impact at all. Three or four weeks, you look at it different ways. It has given me some time to freshen up and get my body feeling good again and hopefully it holds me in good shape come the back end of this tournament,” he said.
When asked about whether he will come in just as a batsman if he is not fit to bowl, he said: “If I get through today, I am pretty sure that I am going to be picked as an all-rounder. I am not too sure how many overs they want me to bowl, but hopefully I can get through today, that’s the main thing for me — not try and get too far ahead of myself and leave the selectors with that decision.”
Faulkner admitted that it was frustrating to be sitting on the sidelines.
“I’d be lying if I said I was not frustrated. Any time you get injured is a shocking feeling and to do it at the time that it happened, the same as last time before the World T20. It obviously was quite hard to take at the start, but there’s not really much I could control after that,” he said.
“I was about doing my rehab and I have been in good hands with the physiotherapist and team doctors to get me back in this position. Hopefully it all pays off.”
