Peter Moores was forced on to the defensive yesterday as he attempted to explain the all too familiar story of Australian domination over an England side led by a captain desperately struggling for any sort of form. England were transported back a year to their worst Ashes nightmare on Saturday when they were outclassed by a rampant Australia at the start of a World Cup when they again made a late decision to make significant changes. This time it was Ravi Bopara who was jettisoned at the last minute from an England side who were supposed to have been given maximum preparation time to settle before finally launching a challenge for that elusive first 50-over title. Australia's Mitchell Marsh celebrates after dismissing England captain Eoin Morgan in their World Cup opener . England coach Peter Moores (right) has defended his players but knows they must improve significantly . As a consequence of that, Gary Ballance came in for his first one-day international in six months and James Taylor, who has impressed at three both here and in Sri Lanka before Christmas, was pushed down to the No 6 position. And Chris Woakes, who dropped century-maker Aaron Finch in the first over at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, was not helped by the decision to take the new ball away from him for only the second time in 16 one-day internationals. A thumping defeat at the hands of the hot favourites is far from fatal to England's chances of making an impact in this tournament but it was the apparent muddled thinking that raised serious concerns about their progress. England are not meant to be experimenting now after the Ashes were brought forward, to their considerable cost, to give them every chance of forging cohesive plans ahead of their 11th attempt to win a first World Cup. But England coach Moores passionately denied that England panicked ahead of their big Valentine's Day date with the hosts while also backing Eoin Morgan to come through a woeful run which threatens to undermine his authority here. 'It's a red herring,' said Moores when asked whether the late changes had unsettled England before a 111-run defeat that could have been so much worse. 'I can categorically say no. You don't drop a catch because you think you should be opening the bowling. And both Gary and James would say they are versatile. They can play at three or six and James was very comfortable where he was.' Yet Moores did hint that his young, promising but inexperienced side may have frozen in front of 85,000 in the face of a ferocious Australian outfit. 'The players have to ask 'did we play the style and brand of game we wanted?' And if we didn't, we are going to have to look at how we do that. Each individual will have to look and ask if they got the best out of themselves.' England batsman James Taylor plays a shot against Australia during the match at the MCG in Melbourne . Eoin Morgan's form has come under particular scrutiny in recent weeks . Morgan, made captain on the brink of the World Cup when England finally stopped backing Alastair Cook in one-day cricket, is becoming England's biggest concern, not least because he is in worse form over the last year than the man he replaced. 'Eoin will be as frustrated as anybody,' said Moores after Morgan's fourth duck in five innings. 'He wants a score. Of course he does. But he handles himself well and is practising and doing everything in the right way. 'So this is a case for support. For backing himself and getting out there and trusting that his form will come back and his quality will come through.' Moores pointed to Morgan's century against Australia in the first game of the Tri-series as evidence that he is not under the same pressure as Cook found himself before England pulled the plug on him after a 5-2 defeat by Sri Lanka. 'There is a difference. For Alastair it was over time. For Eoin you're going back less than a month since he scored a brilliant hundred at Sydney. That showed all the best of Eoin. It had brute power, placement and the pacing of an innings. He's got to keep it simple and back himself to do the business. He isn't the sort of bloke to hide from this. He knows he has to go out and perform.' There was an honest admission from Moores that England, who are consistently leaking too many runs towards the end of a one-day innings and went for more than a hundred off the last 10 on Saturday, got their bowling badly wrong. 'It wasn't just about execution,' said the England coach. 'Our plans weren't as good as they should have been. There's no point hiding from it. I think in this game the players were sucked into the width of the square boundaries and thought that (short balls) were their best option. We have under used yorkers.' A deflated James Taylor leaves the field during England's humbling defeat to Australia . Aaron Finch puts in an assured batting performance for Australia . At least there was the encouragement of an impressive contribution from Taylor in his new position, the Notts batsman only being denied a century by a crass umpiring error created by confusion over the Decision Review System. 'We all felt for him because he had played so well,' said Moores of Taylor's 98 cut short when Jimmy Anderson was run out when the ball should have been dead after an upheld lbw appeal. 'There's nothing we can do, really. The decision was made and what was right was the respect shown to the umpires.' It is very early in this tournament to get into 'inquest' mode and it is expecting a lot of England, a one-day side destined to play catch-up because of their understandable prioritising of Test cricket, to challenge the big guns immediately. But England will certainly expect better when they take on New Zealand, another powerful one-day side on home soil, here in Wellington on Friday. 'We know we were playing against a side at the top of their game on Saturday but we also know we have to close the gap because the next time we play Australia it will probably be in the knock-out stages,' added Moores. For now England can look no further than making sure they actually reach those knock-out stages. England batsman Chris Woakes plays a shot during the Pool A 2015 Cricket World Cup match . George Bailey falls to the ground after playing a shot during Australia's World Cup opener against England .
England were outclassed by an impressive Australia in a 111-run defeat .
Peter Moores defended his players but expects them to raise their game .
Captain Eoin Morgan is very obviously struggling for form .
England take on New Zealand in their next game in Wellington on Friday .
Peter Moores was forced on to the defensive yesterday as he attempted to explain the all too familiar story of Australian domination over an England side led by a captain desperately struggling for any sort of form. England were transported back a year to their worst Ashes nightmare on Saturday when they were outclassed by a rampant Australia at the start of a World Cup when they again made a late decision to make significant changes. This time it was Ravi Bopara who was jettisoned at the last minute from an England side who were supposed to have been given maximum preparation time to settle before finally launching a challenge for that elusive first 50-over title. Australia's Mitchell Marsh celebrates after dismissing England captain Eoin Morgan in their World Cup opener . England coach Peter Moores (right) has defended his players but knows they must improve significantly . As a consequence of that, Gary Ballance came in for his first one-day international in six months and James Taylor, who has impressed at three both here and in Sri Lanka before Christmas, was pushed down to the No 6 position. And Chris Woakes, who dropped century-maker Aaron Finch in the first over at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, was not helped by the decision to take the new ball away from him for only the second time in 16 one-day internationals. A thumping defeat at the hands of the hot favourites is far from fatal to England's chances of making an impact in this tournament but it was the apparent muddled thinking that raised serious concerns about their progress. England are not meant to be experimenting now after the Ashes were brought forward, to their considerable cost, to give them every chance of forging cohesive plans ahead of their 11th attempt to win a first World Cup. But England coach Moores passionately denied that England panicked ahead of their big Valentine's Day date with the hosts while also backing Eoin Morgan to come through a woeful run which threatens to undermine his authority here. 'It's a red herring,' said Moores when asked whether the late changes had unsettled England before a 111-run defeat that could have been so much worse. 'I can categorically say no. You don't drop a catch because you think you should be opening the bowling. And both Gary and James would say they are versatile. They can play at three or six and James was very comfortable where he was.' Yet Moores did hint that his young, promising but inexperienced side may have frozen in front of 85,000 in the face of a ferocious Australian outfit. 'The players have to ask 'did we play the style and brand of game we wanted?' And if we didn't, we are going to have to look at how we do that. Each individual will have to look and ask if they got the best out of themselves.' England batsman James Taylor plays a shot against Australia during the match at the MCG in Melbourne . Eoin Morgan's form has come under particular scrutiny in recent weeks . Morgan, made captain on the brink of the World Cup when England finally stopped backing Alastair Cook in one-day cricket, is becoming England's biggest concern, not least because he is in worse form over the last year than the man he replaced. 'Eoin will be as frustrated as anybody,' said Moores after Morgan's fourth duck in five innings. 'He wants a score. Of course he does. But he handles himself well and is practising and doing everything in the right way. 'So this is a case for support. For backing himself and getting out there and trusting that his form will come back and his quality will come through.' Moores pointed to Morgan's century against Australia in the first game of the Tri-series as evidence that he is not under the same pressure as Cook found himself before England pulled the plug on him after a 5-2 defeat by Sri Lanka. 'There is a difference. For Alastair it was over time. For Eoin you're going back less than a month since he scored a brilliant hundred at Sydney. That showed all the best of Eoin. It had brute power, placement and the pacing of an innings. He's got to keep it simple and back himself to do the business. He isn't the sort of bloke to hide from this. He knows he has to go out and perform.' There was an honest admission from Moores that England, who are consistently leaking too many runs towards the end of a one-day innings and went for more than a hundred off the last 10 on Saturday, got their bowling badly wrong. 'It wasn't just about execution,' said the England coach. 'Our plans weren't as good as they should have been. There's no point hiding from it. I think in this game the players were sucked into the width of the square boundaries and thought that (short balls) were their best option. We have under used yorkers.' A deflated James Taylor leaves the field during England's humbling defeat to Australia . Aaron Finch puts in an assured batting performance for Australia . At least there was the encouragement of an impressive contribution from Taylor in his new position, the Notts batsman only being denied a century by a crass umpiring error created by confusion over the Decision Review System. 'We all felt for him because he had played so well,' said Moores of Taylor's 98 cut short when Jimmy Anderson was run out when the ball should have been dead after an upheld lbw appeal. 'There's nothing we can do, really. The decision was made and what was right was the respect shown to the umpires.' It is very early in this tournament to get into 'inquest' mode and it is expecting a lot of England, a one-day side destined to play catch-up because of their understandable prioritising of Test cricket, to challenge the big guns immediately. But England will certainly expect better when they take on New Zealand, another powerful one-day side on home soil, here in Wellington on Friday. 'We know we were playing against a side at the top of their game on Saturday but we also know we have to close the gap because the next time we play Australia it will probably be in the knock-out stages,' added Moores. For now England can look no further than making sure they actually reach those knock-out stages. England batsman Chris Woakes plays a shot during the Pool A 2015 Cricket World Cup match . George Bailey falls to the ground after playing a shot during Australia's World Cup opener against England .
struggling for any sort of form. England were by a rampant Australia at the start of a World Morgan in their World Cup opener . England coach Peter Moores (right) has defended his players but there was the encouragement of an impressive was the respect shown to the umpires.' It is very they take on New Zealand, another powerful one-day side on home soil, here in Wellington on