Jonny Bairstow is braced for Australia to provide a real challenge in this month's ODI series as his England teammates look to bounce back from their humbling defeat to Scotland.
The world's top-ranked ODI team, who play the first of five matches against the Aussies at the Oval in London on Wednesday, were beaten by the Scots by six runs for the very first time in Edinburgh on Sunday.
England captain Eoin Morgan put on a brave face saying the shock reversal will act as perfect preparation for the series.
And Bairstow agreed that facing an Australia side going through an uncertain period following the suspension of star players Steve Smith and David Warner and a change of leadership under new coach Justin Lanager could present new problems.
"It's a completely different challenge and a completely different team that we will be playing," Bairstow said.
"It's a team that has a lot of new guys in, without (Mitchell) Starc, (Josh) Hazlewood, (Pat) Cummins, (David) Warner, (Steven) Smith, so there are guys wanting to compete for places and we know just how dangerous that can be when people are pushing for a permanent place."
The defeat to Scotland meant Bairstow's own personal feats have been somewhat overlooked, but he was once again in scintillating form at the top of the England order as he hit a 54-ball century to mark his third ODI ton on the bounce.
It is the first time an English batsman has achieved the feat - only Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara has more with four - and it was his fifth ton in his last 16 innings.
"To score three on the bounce is really pleasing considering 12 months ago people were questioning whether I should be playing or be opening the batting or be in the middle order," he said.
"Twelve months down the line, to score five hundreds and three on the bounce, I am pleased with where I have gone."
The loss to Scotland was England's first outing since rising to top of the ODI rankings, but Bairstow does not think that tag will affect the team or their opponents going forward.
"It's part and parcel of the game," he said. "You get to number one and people are going to want to beat you, but you want to be number one in the world.
"We set our stall out to be number one in the world and that's where we are, whether we were number one in this game or not, Scotland would still be delighted to win, it's not just because we are number one."
PA
