Captain Alastair Cook admitted the England dressing-room was “a tough place to be” after their winless run against Australia was extended by the most dramatic of one-wicket defeats in the second one-day international in Brisbane.
England were on the brink of finally beating Michael Clarke’s side for the first time in 84 days since arriving Down Under, only to be denied by James Faulkner’s unbeaten 69 from 47 balls.
When last man Clint McKay joined the allrounder, Australia required 57 runs in six overs. Faulkner responded to the danger with aggression, typical of Australia’s cricket this summer, as he blasted away England’s bowling.
With 25 needed from 10 balls, Faulkner hit Ben Stokes for back-to-back 6s before smacking the 12 needed from Tim Bresnan’s final over from the first three balls.
It meant Australia went 2-0 up in the five-game series and also that Eoin Morgan’s brilliant 106 was in vain after England posted 300 for eight batting first.
“It’s an emotional dressing-room right now and a pretty tough place to be but when we look at it tomorrow morning in the cold light of day it was an astonishing innings from Faulkner that beat us,” said Cook.
“We did a lot of good things here. Obviously, I’ll have to look at our last few overs but I’m proud of the way we got stuck in. But little things needed to go our way and they didn’t.”
Cook did not attend the post-match press conference, with Morgan instead put forward to explain away this latest defeat.
The left-hander attempted to relay the positives of a performance that England did control for long periods – thanks largely to his 94-ball century – but admitted his team-mates could not help but feel they had let themselves down.
“Guys probably shouldn’t be as harsh as they will be on themselves,” Morgan said. “We let ourselves down a small bit. I think that can be said.”
Cook’s options in the final overs were limited after Boyd Rankin was forced off with a hamstring injury, while Morgan was also on the sidelines with a calf problem.
Both are doubtful for tomorrow’s third match in Sydney and, while any Rankin injury could be offset by Stuart Broad’s return from his break, Morgan’s loss would be a blow after his century.