Australia begins its World Cup campaign on June 1 in Bristol versus Afghanistan.
Before arriving in England on Friday (May 17) for its much-anticipated title defence at the World Cup 2019, defending champions Australia had a four-day stopover in Turkey to visit the well-known Gallipoli peninsula.
Gallipoli peninsula, located in the southern region of East Thrace - the European part of Turkey - is of great significance in Australia's history as a nation because that is exactly the place where 11,000 soldiers from Australia and New Zealand lost their lives in a tragic Allied military offensive.
Wearing their casuals, the 15-man Australian World Cup squad along with the coaching staff retraced the path of their countrymen from over a century ago, which fast bowler Pat Cummins felt was a rich experience to savour for everyone.
"Just before we left, we laid a wreath and recited the ode and just had a minute's silence. Just had a really special moment. One I'll remember for the rest of my life," he was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
"Just spending time together in a place like this, you can't help but learn something about yourself, about your teammates. Just learning about the ANZAC spirit – the fight, the mateship, just the incredible values they held here in 1915."
The squad spent good time walking on ANZAC Cove, the battlefields and cemeteries located across the Gallipoli peninsula, including Lone Pine where the players and management recited the "Ode of Remembrance" before marking their respect by laying a wreath.
Cummins also said that this visit and hearing stories of how the brave soldiers fought for their country helped "set a pretty good framework for how we want to conduct ourselves" ahead of the big summer, which also includes the Ashes later in August-September.
"When you hear some of the stories (of Australians fighting at Gallipoli), a lot of them aren't necessarily best mates, but you know they've got each other's back when the going gets tough."
"Just sticking it out, punching above their weight, doing all those things – no doubt there's going to be times during the World Cup when we're going to be up against it," he concluded.