England are “in a much stronger position” than before the Tri-Series, according to Head Coach Peter Moores.
Moores’ charges impressed during the rubber with hosts Australia and World Cup holders India, beating the latter twice to reach the final.
England came up short in the showpiece yesterday as Australia defended their 278 for eight by 112 runs at the WACA Ground in Perth.
While Moores was disappointed with defeat, as Australia won all five of their completed Tri-Series games, he was encouraged by his side’s form in comparison to their 5-2 loss to Sri Lanka late last year.
Eoin Morgan has replaced Alastair Cook as captain since then while James Anderson and Stuart Broad have returned from injury to bolster the attack.
It has all left Moores feeling upbeat for England’s World Cup campaign, which starts versus Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Valentine’s Day.
Speaking exclusively to ecb.co.uk, Moores said:“I think we’re in a much stronger position, I really do.
“I think we’ve had a good three weeks; we’ve worked really hard. We’ve had a couple of good wins against India. We’ve got very close to Australia in Hobart and we batted very well.
“It’s a young team. I think one of the nice things with being an emerging team often is they’re pretty open, honest about what areas they’re going to adjust to get better. We’ve done that all through this series.
“I think we are one of the sides that is getting better fast at the moment in world cricket and we’ve got to keep doing that and keep progressing.”
A further positive for Moores is batsman Gary Ballance’s recovery from a fractured finger that ruled him out of the Tri-Series.
Ballance is now in contention for England’s two World Cup warm-ups, against West Indies and Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground next week, along with the other squad members who played little or no part in the Tri-Series.
“Gary’s close. Gary’s tapping again now. He’s hitting in the nets,” Moores added.
“He’ll do a bit of work over the next couple of days because he’s coming back from injury and when we get to Sydney we’ll see where he’s at and whether he gets a go in the side.
“It’s not over for any one player. We’ve got Gary, we’ve got Alex Hales, we’ve got (James) Tredwell, we’ve got Chris Jordan, all players who would like to get a go if we decide to give people a go in those games. We’ll decide that later.”