Tim Paine: Lord's inspires Australia's World Cup 'dream'

Australia captain Tim Paine believes training at Lords has fuelled the teams dream of appearing in next years World Cup final at the home of cricket The reigning world champions have been at Lords this week ahead of a oneday international series against England The fivematch contest which gets underway across London at The Oval on June 13 will mark the first time Australia have been in international action since Marchs balltampering scandal in South AfricaThe fallout from one of the most humiliating episodes in Australian cricket history led to yearlong bans for former captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner as well as a ninemonth suspension for batsman Cameron Bancroft who applied sandpaper to the ball during the third Test in Cape Town in a flagrant breach of crickets rulebook Darren Lehmann subsequently resigned as team coach with Justin Langer succeeding his fellow former Australia batsmanIt was at Lords where the now 33yearold Paine made his Test debut in a neutral match against Pakistan in 2010 I havent been here for about eight or nine years but one of the first things we the squad did was a slow lap together and let it all sink in the history and tradition Paine told reporters at Lords on Wednesday We also talked about the World Cup final here in 12 months time as a dream for our guys to work to the wicketkeeper explainedBest place on earthLanger who knows the ground better than most Australians having also played for Lordsbased county side Middlesex added This is the best place on earth LiterallyMate what a place Lords is the best place on earth What about lunch here But Australia who won the 1999 World Cup final at Lords may need to improve their ODI form if they are to reach next years showpiece match and be crowned champions for a recordextending sixth time England who beat Australia 41 in an ODI series Down Under earlier this year are currently top of the 50over rankings with Langers side fifth As well as Smith and Warner Australia will also be without injured firstchoice fast bowlers Mitchell Starc Pat Cummings and Josh Hazlewood for the upcoming series They will look to the likes of Travis Head and DArcy Short to fill the rungap while pacemen Kane Richardson Andrew Tye Jhye Richardson and Billy Stanlake stake their claimsFill the voidHow do you replace David Warners and Steve Smiths runs and experience asked Langer But the reality is thats where were at If were going to come and win the World Cup here next year well need unbelievable depth in Australian cricket Paine added We can win this series Its an opportunity for other guys to come in and fill the void Not having our big three bowlers here is an opportunity for guys who are probably a bit better than people around the world realise Meanwhile Paine who took over as captain in South Africa said Australia were prepared for taunts from English crowds following the balltampering scandalWe expect that when we come to England all the time he said ahead of Thursdays touropener against a Sussex side coached by former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie We cop a little bit of ribbing and this time we come with a bit more of a reason for them to do it Paine added Were looking forward to it to be honest But the Tasmanian stressed We wont be overly nice Weve still got to have that hard edge Were here to win And Langer was confident the team could put the events of Cape Town behind them South Africa was a really hard time for Australian cricket individually and collectively he said One of our values is being number one learners As long as we learn from what happened and move forward thats all we can do Theres noone in this room who hasnt made a mistake in their life The boys made a mistake and as long as we get better for it well be OK Langer insistedCatch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever