Australia quick Doug Bollinger admits being on the wrong end of a 5-0 one-day international series clean sweep by England would be "devastating".
The left-arm paceman nearly helped bowl Australia to a spectacular victory in the third one-day international at Old Trafford on Sunday.
England, who defend the Ashes in Australia later this year, were cruising to victory but lost six wickets for 18 runs before Tim Bresnan saw the side to a one-wicket win with five balls to spare.
That gave England an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series and meant they'd got the better of arch-rivals Australia in all of their most recent meetings in all three international formats, having beaten their oldest cricket foes in last month's World Twenty20 final after regaining the Ashes last year.
Now England, who haven't enjoyed such ascendancy over Australia since their 'grand-slam' Ashes winning tour in 1986/87, will be looking to move nearer a whitewash of the world champions when the fourth one-day international takes place at The Oval here on Wednesday.
"We'd love to stop them, 5-0 would be devastating," Bollinger told reporters at Australia's hotel here on Monday.
"But we've just got to go out there and do everything properly and hopefully win the next two; 3-2 would still be disappointing but it would be two good wins," the 28-year-old New South Wales paceman added.
"It isn't the start we wanted being 3-0 down but there isn't much we can do. Everyone went out and played their guts off and sometimes it just doesn't work out. We can't whinge about it, we just have to try and finish well in these two one-dayers before the T20s and Tests against Pakistan."
One consolation for Australia in their defeat at Old Trafford was the form of fast bowler Shaun Tait, who took three wickets for 28 runs in his first one-day international since February 2009.
"Shaun came in and bowled really fast," said Bollinger. "He bowled really well. He got three for 28 and bowled well for the team, and that gave us a massive boost.
"For me he can have a massive effect on the series. If he keeps bowling well then he'll take a lot of wickets - and I hope he does.
"He's a great guy to have in the dressing room too, so to have him available is like a breath of fresh air."
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