Australian coach Mickey Arthur hopes the lessons learned from his team’s recent 4-0 whipping in India will help propel them to the No.1 Test ranking within two years.
Arthur described the series whitewash as the toughest he’s encountered in his coaching career, with the suspension of four players adding to the misery of the tour.
Vice-captain Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson were all stood down from the third Test for failing to complete a simple homework assignment.
Arthur said the punishments were a line in the sand moment that had galvanised the team.
“Hopefully this is the foundation for something good,” Arthur said in Perth on Tuesday.
“We could have gone and just carried on and we would have been third in the world comfortably.
“We don’t accept that.
“We want to get ourselves to No.1 in the world and give ourselves the best possible opportunity to do that.
“We’ve put some stuff in place that we think can get that team there over the next 24 months.”