Liam Plunkett has warned it is time for England to start playing like world-beaters again.
England beat Australia to go 1-0 up in the five-match ODI series on Wednesday but key seamer Plunkett admits his side were short of standards which have put them top of the International Cricket Council rankings and raised hopes they could win the World Cup on home ground for the first time next summer.
It was a scrappy performance as England won by just three wickets at The Oval, despite bowling depleted Australia out for 214 and he hopes to see a response in the second ODI in Cardiff on Saturday.
For a team whose big-hitting batting line-up is their undoubted strength, there was nothing convincing about a chase which limped over the line.
Plunkett, who was dropped by Yorkshire this month following his return from the Indian Premier League, impressed with three for 42 in a bowling collective which showed significant improvement from the shock defeat against Scotland.
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"We tied them down, and the spinners bowled really nicely," he said. "We'd take that all the time.
"But absolutely, we agreed as a batting unit we should be able to finish that off.
"There were soft dismissals, and we're looking to erase them. We need to show why we're number one in the world."
The ball-tampering saga in South Africa has left Australia open to flak from partisan crowds on their England tour, eager to remind them of their misdemeanours. And Plunkett is refusing to be sympathetic.
"I don't feel sorry for them," he said.
"You're going to get it - it's part of sport.
"I'm sure it would be the same if someone on the England team had done that. And you get plenty of stick when you go and play against Australia Down Under."
