Australia's stand-in captain George Bailey has demanded improvement from his batsmen if his side are not to go home early from the ICC Champions Trophy.

Their campaign got off to a poor start as they were comfortably beaten by 48 runs by England, and Bailey was particularly critical of the batting order.

"From around 170 for one with about 15, 16 overs to go I think we did a really good job to pull it back [with the ball], it looked a fantastic batting wicket," he told Sky Sports News.

"I think the scoreline at the end probably flattered us a little bit but it was really the batting that let us down."

Australia's next game is on Wednesday against New Zealand.