Australia Cricket / Editor / 22 February 2007 /

Australia coach John Buchanan insists that the camp is full of confidence heading into the World Cup, despite an alarming slump in form.

The Aussies were seemingly invincible less than a month ago, cruising in the recent triangular one-day series with England and New Zealand after completing an Ashes whitewash in the Test series.

However, they lost three of their last four games in the one-day competition to lose out to England in the final and have subsequently been whitewashed 3-0 in the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand.

They have now endured a run of five consecutive defeats in their last meaningful matches ahead of the showpiece event in West Indies, which starts on March 13, while they have also been knocked off the top of the ICC world rankings by South Africa.

The Green and Golds will play two warm-up matches against Zimbabwe and England, which may prove crucial to their confidence before their bid to win a third successive world title begins.

Despite the recent results, described as 'depressing' and 'humiliating' by The Australian newspaper, Buchanan insists the performances will be much improved when they kick off their campaign against Scotland in St Kitts on March 14.

"There's no getting away from the fact that we'd like to be winning," Buchanan said.

"But I'm still very confident about the planning we've put in place, the preparations we'll do when we get there and the team we've got."

Australia have not been at full strength during the dismal run, with captain Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist rested while injuries have ruled out Andrew Symonds (torn bicep), Michael Clarke (hip) and Brett Lee (ankle), and the return of these players would greatly improve the side.

The defending champions are still the favourites at 3.4 to lift the trophy in the Caribbean, but they had previously been backed at 2.5, while South Africa have been supported in to 5.8, having been matched as high as 12.5.

Punters, however, are sure to be keeping an eye on developments after Buchanan admitted it is by no means certain that the injured stars will all be able to take their places in the squad, which was hit by a further injury on Monday when Matthew Hayden broke his toe while racking up 181 not out.

Buchanan is awaiting further news from the medical staff before deciding whether squad changes need to be made.

"Once we get all that information, it'll then be over to the selectors and [captain] Ricky Ponting and myself. We'll toss all that around and work out what the best solution might be," Buchanan said.

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