Smarting under a humiliating 243-run defeat against India in a warm-up match in Cardiff earlier this week, Australia's stand-in captain George Bailey says he is ready to lead Australia in their Champions Trophy opener against England here on Saturday.
Clarke has been ruled out with a lower back pain.
Bailey has been Australia's T20 skipper but against England at Edgbaston, this will be Bailey first big test as a national team leader in the 50-over format.
"I'm not under any more pressure than any other captain. First and foremost, my role is to score runs in that middle-order for us. If I can do that, we have enough guys and our players have played enough cricket to know the basics of the game.
"I'm not going to do anything as a captain that's going to revolutionize the game. It's all pretty basic stuff that we've got to do well and we've got to do better than the others. But first and foremost, my role is to score runs. So whether you're captain, vice-captain or whatever is next to your name, that doesn't change," Bailey said.
Australia are the defending champions but in the last one year, they have not been in best of form. They have lost to India and England in the recent past and their 65 all out against India in Cardiff have raised doubts about their competence. England have even laughed at Australia's capitulation in Sophia Gardens.
Bailey admitted:"It's not an ideal preparation to get bowled out for 65. But we'll start on zero. Tomorrow, England will start on zero. How they prepare or how they take that is completely up to them.
