Clarke leads Australia to ODI win

Second One-day international, Emirates Old Trafford:

Australia 315-7 (50 overs) beat England 227 (44.2 overs) by 88 runs

Michael Clarke scored a century as Australia beat England by 88 runs in the second one-day international to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.

After Friday's opening match was washed out, the visiting skipper's 105 from 102 balls helped his side to 315-7.

George Bailey supported Clarke with 82 off 67 balls to hand Australia a best ODI score against England in the UK.

Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler made fifties but the hosts were dismissed for 227 with 5.4 overs left.

"That is a thrashing. England were always going to struggle when they had to chase over 300. The first 10 overs with Mitchell Johnson getting the two wickets, England only flickered. If Kevin Pietersen stayed in longer, anything was possible. Morgan and Buttler played well but there was nothing else to trouble the Aussies. An emphatic victory for Michael Clarke's men and England will have to put their thinking caps on. That was some hiding."

England named a strong batting line-up with Ben Stokes at number eight but were arguably a bowler light, relying on Ravi Bopara and Joe Root to deliver 12 overs.

But Morgan's side got off to a good start when Steve Finn dismissed Shaun Marsh caught behind with only the fourth ball of the match.

There was controversy as Shane Watson was adjudged lbw the very next ball, but reprieved by the Decision Review System when third umpire Aleem Dar viewed that the Australian number three had edged it.

Watson was eventually out for 38 to Bopara, as England opted to review Richard Kettleborough's not out decision and Dar ruled there had been an edge to Buttler.

Aaron Finch made 45 before holing out off James Tredwell, although it was England's spinner who was repeatedly punished on a good pitch by Clarke and Bailey.

The pair were in breathtaking form as they put on 155 for the fourth wicket to take the game away from England.

Bailey struck four sixes before eventually falling to Bopara down the leg side while Clarke nicked behind to Boyd Rankin not long after completing his first one-day international century against England and eighth in all.

1st ODI - Headingley, 6 September, no result 2nd ODI - Old Trafford, 8 September, Australia won by 88 runs 3rd ODI - Edgbaston, 11 September 4th ODI - Cardiff, 14 September 5th ODI - Southampton, 16 September That left Morgan's side needing a record ODI run chase of 316 and their chances vanished after a slow start to their innings.

Opener Michael Carberry, making his home ODI debut, struggled before picking out Clarke at backward point off an inspired Mitchell Johnson for just four and Jonathan Trott departed in the same over for a duck attempting to fend off a wicked lifting delivery.

After Joe Root was bowled by James Faulkner, Pietersen, appearing for the first time as a ODI opener on home soil, gave England a glimmer of hope with two sixes in his 66-ball knock.

But once he fell to Watson for 60 it was game over with Bopara falling caught and bowled to Adam Voges before Morgan went for 54, caught in the deep to give Clint McKay a deserved first wicket.

Although Buttler scored a defiant 75 off 65 balls before giving Fawad Ahmed his first ODI wicket against England, the hosts were bowled out for just 227 and will head to Edgbaston on Wednesday with plenty of food for thought.

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England v Australia: Eoin Morgan hails Kevin Pietersen influence

Eoin Morgan will be delighted to welcome Kevin Pietersen's expertise and wisdom back into England's one-day international team.

Morgan, standing in as captain in place of the rested Alastair Cook for the five-match series against Australia set to get under way at Headingley, may well deploy Pietersen in the opener's position in which he has fared so well.

Pietersen, returning to the 50-over format for the first time since January because of injuries, is an obvious contender to help fill the vacancy left at the top of the order by the absence of Cook and Ian Bell.

He batted at number three when he last featured in ODI cricket but previously signed off as an opener with back-to-back centuries against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in early 2012.

Much has happened to Pietersen and England in the intervening time - including Cook and Bell's prolific partnership.

But with both rested, Pietersen's average of 58.85 in eight attempts against the new ball - albeit exclusively in sub-continent or Middle East conditions - presents a compelling case for him to return to that role, probably alongside Michael Carberry.

It will not be merely Pietersen's runs, but his presence as a senior player in a largely inexperienced squad, which Morgan will hold dear.

"Kev offers a hell of a lot as a senior player and as a batsman," he said.

"He leads by example. The confidence with which he goes about his business, people rub off on that - and that's crucial.

"When I came into the team, he was one of the most senior players - the guy you could turn to and ask difficult questions.

"He's fantastic to have in the squad and back in for the one-day series."

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Eoin Morgan calls on Kevin Pietersen to lead by example during England's ODI series against Australia

With Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann all rested after a successful Ashes campaign, Morgan will lead some unfamiliar faces into battle against the tourists.

Given the lack of experience in the England line-up, Morgan has urged Pietersen to lead the way.

"Kev offers a hell of a lot as a senior player and as a batsman," Morgan said. "As a senior player he leads by example with the confidence with which he goes about his business. People rub off on that and that's crucial.

"When I first came into the team, he was one of the more senior players and he was a guy you could turn to and ask difficult questions or have no hesitation in turning to him for a positive option.

"In that regard, I think he's fantastic to have in the squad and back in for the one-day series."

Morgan stopped short of guaranteeing Pietersen the chance to open the batting against Australia in the absence of Bell and Test captain Cook, with the 33-year-old Surrey batsman's firebrand style potentially better employed futher down the order.

"It's certainly an option,” Morgan said. “Kev's opened the batting for England before and done well. He also bats in the middle-order as a very explosive player. He's very versatile in that regard so we'll be looking at both options."

Morgan said that whoever was selected to open the batting would be "filling big shoes".

"Cooky and Belly have been very successful now for a couple of years and they've been a huge part of our success as a one-day team," said the Irishman, who hit a century against Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday.

"With the two new balls in one-day cricket it makes that role more difficult now, so it's an important role and one that we recognise needs filling."

Sussex bowler Chris Jordan could make his England debut on Friday and Morgan says working alongside budding debutants has been the highlight of his captaincy so far.

"Those games in particular I've really enjoyed. The things I've most enjoyed about them has been handing out caps to debutants,” he said.

"It's fantastic to see guys being rewarded for a lot of hard work over a number of years and being rewarded by pulling the England shirt on and that makes me smile every day."

Edited by Michael Beattie

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England v Australia: Ashley Giles has chance to show he can succeed Andy Flower

Speculation that Andy Flower’s tenure as England’s team director may draw to a close after the next Ashes series has brought Giles, England’s one-day coach, into focus.

As a result of Flower’s policies of rest and rotation, Giles has not been able to work with a full-strength one-day side since his ascension to the one-day role at the start or the year, a position he finds himself in again.

A sensitive player, Giles has matured into sterner stuff. Those who have seen him evolve from England cricketer to Warwickshire’s team director to his current coaching role speak of a man who is strong-minded with clear ideas.

The unfamiliarity within this squad will have blurred some of that lucidity and judging from their recent match against Ireland in Dublin, England looked a proper bowler short, a curious decision now there is once more a new ball at each end.

Australia’s attack, by contrast, looks strong in most departments with only the spin of Fawad Ahmed untested at this level.

Giles’s challenge for the opening NatWest match against Australia, at Headingley, is where to bat Kevin Pietersen.

On Thursday, Eoin Morgan, England’s captain in the absence of the resting Alastair Cook, said they would consider Pietersen’s previous role as an opener but also his current one in the middle order.

If Friday’s side is one that looks forward to the next World Cup, then a middle-order role for Pietersen is unlikely, what with Joe Root, Morgan, Ravi Bopara and Jos Buttler occupying four to seven.

That leaves No 3, usually the domain of Jonathan Trott, or one of the opening spots, which neither Michael Carberry nor Luke Wright was able to lay claim to in Dublin.

Pietersen last opened against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates 18 months ago, when he made successive hundreds, but forfeited his position when he retired from one-day cricket two months later. As a result the job fell to Cook and Ian Bell, the pair opening for the last 27 ODIs before both were rested for in Dublin.

On Thursday, in the nets, Pietersen slogged away with the air of someone not really fussed about his intended role (he averages 58.8 as opener but 116 at No?5), though he did something similar before the Test here against South Africa last year, and played one of the great innings.

England handed out three new caps in Dublin but only two of them, Carberry and Boyd Rankin, are likely to play here, though Steven Finn has not been threatening to take many wickets with the new ball, the prime reason for his inclusion, which gives Chris Jordan or Jamie Overton an outside chance.

Whoever plays, Giles will tell them what is expected of them in a calm but incisive way. A good communicator, one habit he has been advised to drop is his jotting down of notes, Rafael Benítez style, every time an error is made. If it makes experienced players anxious, as the TV director zooms in on him scribbling frantically, it could play havoc among the youngsters, especially if Aaron Finch starts teeing off as he did in the T20 match at the Ageas Bowl when he struck 156 off 63 balls.

How Giles and his team handle themselves during this series is unlikely to have that much bearing on the next World Cup in 18 months time, but it could be germane if Flower does decide to go after the next Ashes series. Then, when the pros and cons of his successors are assessed, this series, especially if Giles can turn the raw ingredients he has been handed into gold, could count double in his favour.

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Australia outclass Scotland in ODI

One-day international, The Grange, Edinburgh:

Australia 362-3 (50 overs) beat Scotland 162 (43.5 overs) by 200 runs

Centuries from Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh helped Australia claim an emphatic 200-run win over Scotland in their one-day international.

The tourists showed little mercy to the mostly-amateur Scots as they smashed their way to 362 for three.

Scotland could only muster 162 all out in reply at the Grange in Edinburgh as Matt Machan top-scored with 39.

Darren Lehmann's Australians start a five-match series with England on Friday at Headingley.

“It wasn't easy out there. It was a tricky wicket, they bowled well and I had to work hard”

Shaun Marsh Australia opener Having failed to regain the Ashes with a 3-0 Test series defeat before sharing the two Twenty20 clashes that followed, the Aussies were looking for a morale-boosting victory.

And the side currently ranked second in the ICC's one-day rankings were never in danger of losing as their top-order batsmen secured an easy win that Marsh suggested had still been a useful trip north.

"It wasn't easy out there," he said. "It was a tricky wicket, they bowled well and I had to work hard.

"It was definitely a worthwhile exercise - 100%. The boys got time out in the middle, the bowlers bowled well and it was a great spectacle. It's great to come up to a lovely place like Edinburgh."

Finch had continued on from his record-breaking Twenty20 knock of 156 against England last week by grabbing his maiden 50-over century.

The Victoria batsman struck 14 sixes in his world-record score against England on Thursday in Southampton and this time hit 148 from only 116 balls before being caught in the deep by Freddie Coleman off Majid Haq.

He and March had put on 246 for the opening wicket - an Australia record - and the latter then took up the scoring responsibilities by pushing beyond Finch's figure to end on 151 as Iain Wardlaw tempted him to slog into Gordon Goudie's grasp.

The same combination accounted for Shane Watson on 37 as the Scots claimed their second wicket in as many balls, but the Australians already had 347 on the board.

Michael Clarke (four) and George Bailey (10) batted out the final two overs to set up an improbable run chase.

Coleman fell for a duck early before Hamish Gardiner went for a single, while Watson ran out Scotland skipper Preston Mommsen for eight.

Machan and Calum MacLeod (24) helped add a touch of respectability to the score before Haq (25) eventually prodded Scotland into three figures.

With little to lose, Scotland continued to let their shots go and Goudie (23) raised a couple of cheers with two huge sixes.

However, Mitchell Johnson (four for 36) cleaned bowled Gordon Drummond for eight to claim his fourth wicket and end a painful day for the hosts.

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England Women complete Ashes thrashing of Australia Women with third Twenty20 win

By comfortably winning the third Twenty20 international with seven wickets and 3.4 overs to spare, England Women completed their drubbing of Australia Women to win their multi-format Ashes by 12 points to four.

While the Test was drawn in Australia’s favour – with two points for each side – England won the one-day series 2-1 and the Twenty20 series 3-0, sealing the first multi-format series for either gender.

Australia had overtaken England as the leading country for women’s cricket by winning the last 50-over and 20-over World Cups.

“A bit more self-belief,” was what England’s captain Charlotte Edwards said was the key difference, which was particularly evident when England twice chased down their target. “And we’ve won the key moments.”

The third T20 international did not make a good advertisement for women’s cricket because Australia’s batting was poor. The attraction of 20-over cricket lies in big hitting, and Australia could hit only five fours, even though the boundaries were 10 yards further in than for the men’s match that followed.

The best features of the game were England’s fielding, the wicketkeeping on both sides, Australia’s pace bowling and the batting of Lydia Greenway who followed her match-winning 80 – the highest for England in a T20 – in the second international with another unbeaten innings of 35.

Katherine Brunt was player of the match, partly for her opening spell but also for a direct hit run-out from deepish cover that set the standard for England’s fielding. There was no unforced error except one when the England captain’s knees let her down.

Australia’s opening bowling pegged England back to 14 for three as they chased only 92, but it was also pacy enough to offer scope for back-foot shots. There have been bowlers who have consistently reached 70mph – notably Brunt, Ellyse Perry and India’s Jhulan Goswami – but Holly Ferling, a willowy 17-year-old, could raise the bar to new heights.

For the moment, the challenge is hitting boundaries when there is little pace on the ball, and Greenway solved it with her similarities to Eoin Morgan as a wristy left-hander who loves to reverse-sweep.

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England v Australia, second T20: live

WICKET! Coulter-Nile c Briggs b Finn 13 Steve Finn was seeing his life flash before his eyes there! First two balls of the over, both are slammed for six by Coulter-Nile. On the 45th anniversary of Sobers's six sixes in an over... But calm is restored as Coulter-N swings and misses at ball three, a slower ball. Then another dot ball, a quick one. Now fifth ball of the over Finn produces a slower ball bouner, Coulter-Nile swings at it, gets the top edge and is easily caught at fine leg. FOW 162/9

Mike Turney, our Danny Briggs correspondent: "Hmmm – humble pie for tea then." Ha, fair play to you Mike. He hadn't done a lot prior to this game.

OVER 18: AUS 150/7 (Johnson 1* Coulter-Nile 1*) Mitch comes in and survives the hat-trick ball, which was wide outside off. Should have gone for the striaght slowie, I reckon Jade. Mitchell has to swing at everything, so.... Anyway. Super over, two runs and two wickets, and you can't say fairer than that. 46 needed from 12 balls.

WICKET! Maxwell c Lumb b Dernbach 27 But that has to be the game. Maxwell has flicked a full toss straight to deep square leg, and Australia's last hope surely goes with him. The batsmen cross. FOW 148/7

... and next ball ...

WICKET! Faulkner c Morgan b Dernbach Excellent short ball from Jade, Faulkner backs away and tries to pull, but the ball is too slippery and quick for that. He slides the ball off the top edge and Morgan takes a wonderful catch at backward point. FOW 148/8

OVER 17: AUS 148/6 (Maxwell 27* Faulkner 5*) Could be a promising physical comedy double act down there, Finny and Morgs with a bit of relay fielding. That's about the best thing that England can say about this Bopara over, which gets slammed for 19 by Maxwell. Too short balls from Ravi get the treatment, six and a four, and then a length ball smacked down the ground. Could have been worse: Maxwell misses out on a full toss off the last ball of the over. So Aussies need 48 off 18 balls, that over has just (just) about kept the Aussies in it.

Graeme Whittaker: "Respect to Marc. 7 hours! Did a few myself earlier and got seriously nettled. However had the pleasure of seeing the Red Arrows, 2 'V' formations of 5 and the chap at the back either trying to keep up or marking them for their formation, low over Hereford on their way to Portrush I guess. Don't want to tempt fate but I think we should win this one."

OVER 16: AUS 129/6 (Maxwell 8* Faulkner 5*) Faulkner comes in, lovely shot as he steps away and hits in-to-out through cover. Very attractive. But Briggs is able to end the over with two dots. Ball was changed after the wicket, should you be interested. Aussies need a huge over now to get back in this.

WICKET! Wade b Briggs 4 First ball of the over, around the wicket, quicker ball, Wade heaves and misses and he's a goner. Your move, Mike Turney. FOW 123/6

OVER 15: AUS 123/5 (Maxwell 7* Wade 4*) Skilful over from Ravi, cutters and slower balls, it's hard for the two new batsmen to line him up and there are eight runs off the over.

Mike Turney's not for turning: "Harsh? Briggs has got 3 wickets in 5 matches with an economy of 11 an over - neither a wicket taker or a run miser. If the aim in 20/20 is to bowl full tosses, he’s the man."

OVER 14: AUS 115/5 (Maxwell 2* Wade 1*) Single to Mawell and Wade to end an impressive over from young Briggs, four runs and a wicket. England firm favourites from here.

WICKET! Bailey lbw Briggs 23 Nicely done, Briggsy. He gets a ball to straighten from around the wicket, Bailey misses with the big slog sweep and that's band LBW. FOW 113/5

OVER 13: AUS 111/4 (Bailey 22*) Seven off the over. Glenn Maxwell will be the new man.

WICKET! Warner c Hales b Dernbach The key man goes, and nobody is happier than Steve Finn. Off the fifth ball of the over, Warner flat-bats it high back over the bowler and Finn, running back from mid off calls for it, runs back and.... gets nowhere near it. The onrushing Joe Root, coming in from long on might have been a better bet. Anyhow, it doesn't matter too much because Warner has spanked a Dernbach slower ball out to Hales on the cover boundary, and he takes a good low catch dicing forward.

Mike Turney: "Has Briggs got incriminating photos of ECB selectors? There can be no other reason why he keeps getting picked. He’s a village green bowler at best." Bit on the harsh side, Mike?

OVER 12: AUS 104/3 (Warner 50* Bailey 19*) Good cricket from the Aussie pair in this over, England's fielders left looking rather flat-footed as Bailey gets no fewer than three well-run twos into the leg-side off Root. In between those, Warner gets the singles that bring up his 50.

OVER 11: AUS 95/3 (Warner 48* Bailey 12*) Skipper Bailey has a look at a couple from Broad and then puts the foot down. A full ball driven for four, pulls the ensuing short one for a couple, and then chips it with the breeze for six over midwicket.

Marc Melander: "Liking your 'Warner looking dangerous' (Over 6). You can tell he's playing cricket and not attempting to connect with Joe Root's chin in a Walkabout battlecruiser. As ever am enjoying your updates. Just slapped a lip over a cold beer after a 7 hour gardening stint." SEVEN HOURS? Bloody hell, what is this, the Burma Railway?

OVER 10: AUS 82/3 (Warner 47*) Looks to be all about Rocky Warner to me. England in control at halfway, 114 needed from 60 balls, although of course a big over or two changes everything.

WICKET! Marsh b Root 13 Nicely done, Joe. Marsh had tonked him over midwicket for six, but Root gets one to skid on with the arm from around the wicket and Marsh is cleaned up off the last ball of the over. FOW 82/3

OVER 9: AUS 73/2 (Warner 47* Marsh 7*) Broad doesn't fancy another of Briggs, or at least not yet, and Ravi comes on. Okay over of cutters. He sends down two wides. But no boundaries, and just seven off it.

OVER 8: AUS 66/2 (Warner 44* Marsh 5*) Joe Root on for a bowl. It's the Warner show so far. Marsh has made a quiet five off seven balls. But Warner is cracking on. He shows he's not just a biffer, a nice delicate back cut for four.

OVER 7: AUS 57/2 (Warner 39* Marsh 1*) Briggs on. Starts with a wide! Dear me. Excellent from Warner in this over. Four through mid on, drive through the offside, and now a six down the ground that defies the leaping effort of Joe Root. Nick Knight wonders if England should have a taller fielder there.

OVER 6: AUS 42/2 (Warner 25* Marsh 1*) Dernbach comes on. Shades of England's failing the other night as he serves up the ball, full and in the slot. Slightly overpitched, it comes on nicely and that's six down the ground. Bouncer called a wide on height. Good stuff in the rest of the over, though. Powerplay comes to an end and you would imagine England are pleased enough. 154 more needed, off 14 overs, and my maths skillz (calculator) tell me that's 11 an over. Warner looking dangerous.

OVER 5: AUS 34/2 (Warner 18* Marsh 1*) Languid swing of the bat from Warner as he plonks Finn over long off for six first ball of the over. Short ball down leg is called wide. Good duel between bat and ball as Finn beats Warner swinging. Finishes with a leg bye. Ten off the over.

OVER 4: AUS 24/2 (Warner 11* Marsh 0*) Flashing blade from Warner, a pull for four and a cut for the same. Broad keeping it wide of off, fearing the breeze across the ground will allow the ball to sail into the stands.

OVER 3: AUS 15/2 (Warner 2* Marsh 0*) In fairness to Warner, there was never a run there, that run out was all of Watson's own making. Earlier in the over, the blond powerhouse had slammed Finn for four, but his day is done. Finn beats Marsh with a snorter first ball, shaving the off-stump. And again next ball! Finn all over the Aussies here.

WICKET! Watson run out 7 Oh dear! By which I mean "ha, ha, ha." Watson dabs it to backward point and sets off. Warner sends him back. Watson turns and tries to get back, Morgan with the direct hit and Watson is gone by a street. FOW 15/2

OVER 2: AUS 9/1 (Warner 2* Watson 1*) Good stuff from Broad, England are off to a strong start. Watson can manage just a single from his first four balls.

WICKET! Finch c Wright b Broad 5 Skipper himself has removed the danger man. Stock ball from Broad, Finch has a go at it and he's spooned it off the top edge to mid-on. No fireworks today. Well, he'd nailed the first ball of the over, a full one outside off, for four, but that's ancient history now. FOW 8/1

OVER 1: AUS 4/0 (Warner 2* Finch 1*) Useful over from Finn. Very good, quick bouncer in there. Only four runs off the over.

16.06 The players are back out, England better hope they get Aaron Finch out cheaply. Steve Finn will bowl the first over, he has a bit to prove. England should win from here. Only seven times have the Aussies managed more than this score in 63 T20s.

ENGLAND MAKE 195/5 A good effort from England again with the bat, Hales just missing out on a century but, to my mind, the story is Fawad Ahmed. Obviously it's early days, but Australia look to have acquired a useful leg-spinning asset here. The way he dealt with the pressure of bowling the last over was impressive, he did for Buttler with a big, slow, leg-break and he had Eoin Morgan on toast with that googly. Encouraging signs. Alex Hales has now made three scores in the nineties in this format. England's score looks very handy, although they would have been hoping for 200-plus, having been 110/0 off 11 overs. And how will they deal with the FINCH HITTER?

OVER 20: ENG 195/5 (Bopara 1* Root 1*) Neither Ravi nor Root can do a lot with the last couple of balls of the over and that's England's lot. Eight runs and two wickets for Fawad Ahmed in the last over.

WICKET! Buttler b Fawad Ahmed 0 Ooh, nice bit of bowling! He tosses it up, it's a slow leg-break, it pitches and turns a fair bit. Buttler heaves all around it and he is bowled. Golden duck! Nice one Fawad. FOW 187/4

... Morgan now nails the ball for six over cow corner.

WICKET! Morgan c Coulter-Nile b Fawad Ahmed 20 Love it! That's the googly, Morgan goes for the same shot but the ball's spun the other way this time, he's hit against the spin and he's hit it right down the throat of Coulter-Nile at deep midwicket. FOW 194/5

OVER 19: ENG 187/3 (Morgan 14*) That came off the last ball of the over and it looks like it is Jos Buttler who comes in. And it looks like Fawad will bowl the last over - I like it. Bold move.

WICKET! Hales c Warner b Faulkner 94 Faulkner. So I guess that means Watto or Fawad will bowl the last? Time running out for Hales, the pair have managed just six runs from the first five balls. He goes for the big shot, smears it down the ground and.... there's that man Warner! Very good catch, Hales goes for 94; that is his third score in the nineties in international T20. FOW 187/3

Peter Rowntree: "Finch is certainly a mighty hitter of the ball and England will need to clip his wings early to stand a chance. England's effort on Thursday taken on its own, 200-plus, was not a bad effort, and they look as though they will get over 200 today. So not much wrong with the batting in this T20 team. It is the bowling that worries me, Finn is below par, I have never had much faith in Dernbach, although he was our best bowler in the first T20 - but look at the bowling figures we had the other day mostly in the 40's from 4 overs - and just think Dave Willey took him for 55 in 4 overs in the T20 final and that is why I lack confidence in our friend Jade."

OVER 18: ENG 181/2 (Hales 91* Morgan 13*) No sooner has 'Beertickers' emailed, then Morgan slams Ann Coulter-Nile over midwicket for six. Bad times for Ann, he's hit for two by Hales, and that's a no ball as well. Could have been worse, Hales only chips it into the offside for two. Hales slices through point for four and all told there are 18 in the over. Can Hales become England's first T20 centurion?

Beertickers: "As an additional point to the non-appearance of Carberrry, I see that Morgan is selected again despite not having scored very much at all recently. In fact he's been rubbish for too long now. It does seem that certain players are always selected irrespective of form whilst others like Carberry and particularly Onions are constantly overlooked. What is it about these players that they never quite make the grade - despite outstanding displays all season long? Or don't the selectors fancy them when it comes down to it? Very confusing."

OVER 17: ENG 162/2 (Hales 82* Morgan 4*) Eoin Morgan comes in, on his way right away with a cut for two, singles make this a seven-run over.

WICKET! Wright c Johnson b Faulkner 30 Aw, what a catch from Mitch! Low full toss from Faulkner, Wright toe ends it to mid off, Johnson with a superb leap to pluck the ball from high above his head. Handy 30 off 18 balls from Luke comes to an end. FOW 157/2

OVER 16: ENG 155/1 (Hales 81* Wright 28*) But the wheels are off for Maxwell now! Wrigth finds his timing and drills him down the ground for six, then carves him for four through point. Maxwell lets slip a full toss, Wright heaves it away and it lands just inside the rope for four. 18 off the over and England are back in front, I'd say.

OVER 15: ENG 137/1 (Hales 78* Wright 13*) Wright hasn't got his timing working yet, he cannot get Johnson away, couple of mistimed pulls, then the batsmen trade singles before Wright does manage to get a boundary with an inside (bottom?) edge wide of the keeper.

OVER 14: ENG 131/1 (Hales 77* Wright 8*) Tidy over from Glenn Maxwell, his brisk off-darts keeping England to seven. Looks like spin is the way to go on this pitch on the limited evidence so far; England have been able to line the quicker lads up nicely. Warner stumbles as he fields, gets a roar from the crowd, raises his cap in good humour. Proper old-fashioned Aussie pantomime villain. These Aus spinners have put the match back in the balance: four overs for 24 from Fawad and the Silver Hammer. England need a big finish.

OVER 13: ENG 124/1 (Hales 76* Wright 2*) Superb yorker from Coulter-Nile, known to all the Aussie lads as Ann; he's very unlucky to see that go for four as Hales somehow jabs the bat on it and slices it down to fine leg. Four for that; eight off the over.

OVER 12: ENG 116/1 (Hales 69* Wright 1*) Fawad the pick of the bowlers so far, just ones and twos in this over. The ball has been changed.

WICKET! Lumb c Wade b Fawad Ahmed 43 Go on Fawad lad! The Pakistan-born leggie has his first international wicket as Lumb top edges a slog-sweep, the ball spooning high to Matthew Wade for a shelling-peas catch. Nelson's done for England, the newly-minted Aussie has his first scalp and it's FOW 111/1

OVER 11: ENG 110/0 (Lumb 43* Hales 64*) Nice! England's 100 is up as Alex Hales spots a Mitchell Johnson cutter early and slams it over long on. Now Mitch, easily rattled fellow that he is, drops it short and that's an easy pull for four. Lumb also gets in on the act with a boundary, stepping back to hammer the ball through the offside and that's a 16-run over.

OVER 10: ENG 94/0 (Lumb 38* Hales 53*) Third quiet-ish over in a row, Hales clips the ball off his pads for a two, that brings up his half century. Just ones and twos off Fawad. England look on course for 200-plus.

OVER 9: ENG 88/0 (Lumb 36* Hales 49*) Faulkner now. Second running mix-up of the day, and a direct hit from Faulkner would have been curtains with both batsmen at the striker's end. Hales turns it off the legs for four, Marsh makes a game effort with the diving catch at square leg.

OVER 8: ENG 82/0 (Lumb 35* Hales 43*) Fawad Ahmed into the fray in an effort to put the brakes on a very good start from the E. Second ball is wide and airy, Hales drives it for four. But just a single and a couple of leg byes in the rest of the over, as well as a shout for a caught-behind that didn't hit the glove.

Marc Melander: "Presumably the triumphant ladies team refrained from wetting their collective lettuces on the square?" I have had no reports of on-pitch wee-wee so far today, Marc, but I'll keep you posted. Pictures in a plain brown envelope to the usual address? Actually, what with bongo being all online these days, has that harmed sales of plain brown envelopes?

OVER 7: ENG 74/0 (Lumb 35* Hales 38*) Back to Watson, England enjoying this now. Watto tries a leg-cutter but it's on a plate for Lump, who produces the shot of the day so far to send a six sailing over long on. Right into the box where some of the women cricketers are sitting! Ones and twos make this a 13 run over.

OVER 6: ENG 61/0 (Lumb 26* Hales 34*) I reckon this could be Alex Hales's day: he's now top-edged a pull for four over the keeper's heid. Over to Lumb. He comes down the pitch and strokes a four, now bludgeons the ball through midwicket, hardly any backswing, just a lot of power from his strong wrists and arms. Excellent start from England as they powerplay comes to a close. And this after a one-run first over!

OVER 5: ENG 46/0 (Lumb 16* Hales 29*) James Faulkner into the attack. Four boundaries to in the over! First two have an element of luck. Inside edge past the stumps, then a smeary sort of a pull, both ill-deserved fours. But nothing wrong with the towering straight six that comes up next! And then a ball slogged hard along the ground to cow corner that beats the desperate dive of Bailey, who tips it onto the rope. A nervy single and Hales has pinched the strike.

OVER 4: ENG 27/0 (Lumb 16* Hales 10*) Here's Coulter-Nile. Beats Hales on the inside edge, appeal from Wade but nobody else. Lumb up-and-unders a ball high, high, high to deep midwicket and Maxwell makes good ground, dives but cannot get the catch. Four. Just a single to go with and that's a useful over.

OVER 3: ENG 22/0 (Lumb 12* Hales 9*) Alex Hales is off and running, two fours into the legside and a quick single to mid off.

OVER 2: ENG 13/0 (Lumb 12* Hales 0*) Counter-intuitive from Bailey, he tosses the ball to Watson. This is a better over for England, first ball sits up nicely for Lumb to cut for four. Too much width from Watto, and now too short, Lumb pulls that away for four. Warner maybe should have stopped it on the boundary. The crowd jeer. It was a bit of failed fielding that 30 years ago wouldn't have raised an eyebrow, but standards are so high that Warner is mocked for failing to effect a running, sliding stop. He takes it in good heart, as he has all summer. Seems like a decent lad, as it goes.

OVER 1: ENG 1/0 (Lumb 1* Hales 0*) Good start from Mitch, three dot balls. Lumb hits two straight to the cover fielder and then is hit on the thigh pad playing across the line. Lumb finally on his way fourth ball with a mistimed pull for one. Hales ducks a bouncer, and then plays and misses. The Aussies are up - they think it's a caught behind! Umpire Rob Bailey thinks otherwise. Even still, very handy over for the Aussies, just one off it. Mitch with the higher than usual arm, looking impressive.

14.30 Lovely day. And here's lovely MItchell Johnson! He will open the bowling to Michael Lumb.

Lanky: "As expected the England Boys Club maintains its terminal behaviour by selecting an unchanged team. The omission of Carberry is no more than everybody expected - so what is the value in selecting him? Just what is it about the England selectors that they can wilfully leave out the best batsman of the season - again? Favouritism is the only reason."

14.18 This new lad in the Aussie side, Nathan Coulter-Nile, then. He's a right-armer, plays for Western Australia and he gets it down there with a muscular action. Not one for the purists, plenty of shoulder in the action, so I dunno how that will hold up for him long-term. He is a powerful lower-order batsman and he is rated as among the best fielders in Australia. 25-years-old, nickname: River. Obviously. Well, it wasn't going to be 'Ann' Coulter, was it? He's on the card to bat 10, and I imagine he'll share the new pill with Mitchell Johnson.

14.17 Here's the England women spraying the champers. They won the T20 quite comfortably this morning.

14.15 England's batting on Thursday was very good, I thought. No complaints on that score. Encouraging knock from Joe Root in his first international T20 knock, and Ravi in the runs. If you make 209 in a T20, you'd expect to win.

14.10 The new man for the Aussies is Nathan Coulter-Nile, an aggressive fast bowler with a brutish action from the shoulder. He also gives it a whack with the bat and is a handy fielder. A thoroughly modern Millie, by all accounts.

14.05 Here's where England bowled to Finch the other night. You don't need me to tell you that they bowled too few yorkers and two many overpitched balls. Still, it was an incredible knock.

14.00 Aussies win the toss and bowl. Just one change to their team, Josh Hazlewood comes out and Nathan Coulter-Nile comes in. England are unchanged, that's a shame: I was hoping that Michael Carberry might get a chance.

13.50 Afternoon all, and welcome to our live blog of the second Twenty20. England lost the first one, thanks to an astonishing knock from Aaron Finch, so they’ll need to win here to share the two-match series. We'll bring you the toss and the teams in a jiffy.

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England's one-day team face a monumental task against Australia as Ashley Giles' men audition for World Cup

England will be without their regular one-day opening pair of batsmen, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, and their regular opening pair of bowlers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and their first choice-spinner Graeme Swann, and their regular captain. Eoin Morgan has led England, in place of Cook, only against his native Ireland.

No Cook, no Bell, no Anderson, no Broad, no Swann, and if and when Kevin Pietersen plays it will be on only one sound knee. England’s second-choice pace attack looks particularly thin, as Steve Finn is not yet back to his best and the rest are raw recruits. Australia, with their heavyweight opening pair of David Warner and Aaron Finch, could inflict record-breaking damage, just as they did in the first T20 international.

So it will be a surprise if Australia do not win by a bigger margin than England’s 3-0 in the Tests. Six of Australia’s players, including Michael Clarke, will be extra-motivated by their memories of losing the Test series – not to mention their Champions Trophy match in June, the first in this series of interminable fixtures between the two countries.

All of England’s selections were voluntary in that the key players are being rested, and were not dictated by injury. The dialogue in the selection meeting between Andy Flower, who has overall charge as well as being the Test coach, and Ashley Giles, England’s coach for 50-over and T20 cricket, might therefore have been one of those occasions that Giles referred to back in April.

“There could well be a situation down the line where Andy says you can’t have him (ie, a certain player), and I say well, I want him,” Giles said then. “But ultimately Andy is in charge, he’s team director, and we’ll have those discussions if we have to have them behind closed doors and come out in agreement. Ultimately it’s the good of English cricket: it’s a cliché but that’s what we’re here for.”

This situation has subsequently become more delicate. Straight after the Ashes series, Flower said nothing to confirm or reject reports that he was going to stand down as England’s team director after the return series this winter. He has never stated in public that he wants the job long-term, and now he has not even said that he wants the job short-term, beyond January.

A daringly planned and executed one-day series in the next fortnight against Australia – a 3-2 victory against all the odds – would put Giles in better than pole position to succeed Flower as the coach in charge of all formats, if the job arises in January. Following this one-day series, England play no more limited-overs matches until after the Ashes.

A 5-0 defeat in the next fortnight, on the other hand, will look like a serious blot on Giles’s CV to the independent selection panel — which is not composed solely of former players who will understand the circumstances – that the England and Wales Cricket Board usually constitutes to make the appointment of team director.

Amid these politics, and confronted by Clarke’s highly motivated side, any England reserve who does put his hand up can expect to be drafted into World Cup considerations. The next instalment, in Australia and New Zealand, is less than a year and a half away, and given England’s unrelenting schedule it is inconceivable that all three of Anderson, Pietersen and Swann will still be going by then.

England’s first-choice one-day team were not good enough to beat India in the Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston, so several new faces will have to be introduced if they are going to challenge – without home advantage – India and the two host countries. And all the while these new faces have been growing up without ever playing 50-over county cricket, a brilliantly cunning plan to ensure that England never win their first global 50-over trophy.

An outbreak of common sense will occur next year when the ban on 50-over county cricket – in place since 2010 – is lifted. England’s cricketers will then be able to compete in this format without any hands tied behind their back.

Five England players hoping to make an impression ...

Michael Carberry: Brilliant strokeplayer underestimated by more than one county but not, at last, by England. Hit 146 off 132 balls for the Lions against Bangladesh A to gain promotion.

Chris Jordan: Now 24, has grown into his body and can sustain real pace. Can hit a long ball, too. Key challenge is to develop the variations and subtleties for limited-overs.

Jamie Overton: Tall, strong and quick for 19. Has a fine action, everything going in a straight line, with some outswing. Bowled well in Australia last winter for the Under-19s.

Boyd Rankin: The latest signing – or poaching – from Ireland has yet to play an ODI for England but at 6ft7in gets plenty of bounce to force the batsman back. Aged 29, he is, alas, no batsman.

Ben Stokes: Destined to be England’s No?6 in more than one format. Has speeded up as a bowler, gets more bounce than the injured Woakes, and has hit seven first-class centuries.

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England v Australia: opener Alex Hales stars as England win second Twenty20 match at Chester-le-Street

England levelled the two-match T20 series by defeating Australia by 27 runs - almost as handsome as the 39-run margin that Australia had enjoyed at the Ageas Bowl.

England owed their win to a fine opening stand of 111 by Alex Hales and Michael Lumb, and to an all-round improvement in their attack, which stopped Australia hitting as many boundaries as England had: T20 can be as basic as that.

Hales contributed half of England’s 26 fours and sixes, whereas Australia managed only 19. In the first game, thanks to Aaron Finch, Australia had outscored England 37-29 in boundaries.

“The guys adapted to the conditions really well,” England’s T20 captain, Stuart Broad, said about England’s recovery from their thumping by Finch, who had taken batting in T20 internationals into a new sphere with his 156 off 63 balls. Broad led from the front this time by dismissing Finch with his bouncer when he had scored no more than five.

“Both batting performances have been exceptional,” said Broad of England’s two-match series, before admitting: “We still need to nail our skills a bit more with the ball.”

There had been a case for England bringing in Michael Carberry in place of one of the openers, as Carberry had been the leading boundary-hitter – and therefore run-scorer – in the county 20-over competition.

But the selectors kept faith, Lumb and Hales delivered, and Carberry will have to take his chance in the 50-over series against Australia that begins on Friday at Headingley.

On a cool and very windy afternoon at Chester-le-Street, against an Australian team with only one serious spinner, Lumb and Hales were more than sufficient. They had merrily thrashed 74 from the opening seven overs before spin appeared in the form of Fawad Ahmed, the asylum-seeker from Pakistan who was fast-tracked to Australian citizenship.

Lumb soon fell to Ahmed, top-edging a sweep, but their stand had equalled England’s highest against Australia. Hales ploughed on to the highest T20 score for England against Australia but, if a criticism has to be made, he slowed down as his innings wore on rather than accelerating as Finch had at the Ageas Bowl.

Hales reached 64 off 40 balls, which was fine going, but hit ‘only’ 30 more runs off his last 21 balls, and 18 off his last 12.

The start to Luke Wright’s innings was another area for improvement. Hales and Lumb each hit their first boundary off their fifth ball.

Wright did not hit his first boundary until his 12th ball, and in the process he allowed Glen Maxwell - a part-time off-spinner - to squeeze in an over that only cost six runs.

But at least England had wickets in hand for their final assault, having lost only Lumb in the first 16 overs. Although Fawad was cleverly kept for the 20th over, and took two wickets for eight after bowling his first three overs for only 17, England came close to 200 on a pitch that offered more to the bowlers than Southampton’s belter.

In addition, when England’s bowlers had succumbed to the Finch-hitting, they had bowled far too much of a normal length: only one yorker in the first 15 overs, by which time Finch had taken the game away. Here England’s pace bowlers mixed up their lengths much better and prevented a flying Australian start – or finish.

Once Broad had bounced out Finch, Morgan contributed some excellent fielding at point, running out Shane Watson with a direct hit and catching James Faulkner over his shoulder.

Joe Root bounced back from his one over for 27 in the previous game, but the pick of England’s bowlers for the second game running was Jade Dernbach.

Dernbach has been through a lot of turmoil at Surrey in the last year, but he has returned to his most productive bowling here, taking six wickets in the two games.

Here Dernbach backed up his captain as a senior seamer should, and did not get sidetracked into petty squabbles with the non-striker.

If there had been a player of the series on each side, it would have been Finch for Australia, for smiting pace and spin, to off side and leg side, off front and back foot; and Dernbach for England.

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Fawad Ahmed to wear sponsorless shirt in Australia v England matches due to faith

Pakistan-born Ahmed, who became an Australian citizen in July after his application was fast-tracked, did not have the brewer's logo on his shirt during his international debut in last week's T20 matches against England.

Mike McKenna, Cricket Australia's executive general manager for operations, said Tuesday the player first raised the issue when he was selected for the Australia A tour of Britain in June.

"Fawad expressed discomfort with the conflict this created for him, due to his religious beliefs," he said.

"Cricket Australia and Carlton United Breweries (CUB) are respectful of Fawad's personal beliefs and have agreed with his request to wear an unbranded shirt.

"CUB have been a long-standing partner of Australian cricket for more than 17 years and Fawad was thankful for their understanding of his personal situation."

South African batsman Hashim Amla, also a Muslim, is another player in a similar situation and has been permitted not to wear the logo of Cricket South Africa sponsor Castle, a beer company, on his kit.

The sensitive issue also reared up in English football with striker Papiss Cisse pulling out of Newcastle United's pre-season tour this year, saying he was not prepared to promote the club's sponsors, money-lending company Wonga.

But the Senegal international has since donned a Newcastle shirt featuring the logo after talks with the club and Islamic teachers.

Ahmed, whose rapid rise has made him a hero to some in Australia's immigrant communities, impressed in his second T20 match for Australia on Sunday, returning three English wickets for 25 runs.

His performance was timely after he took none for 43 on debut during the first T20 last week.

Edited by Oliver Pickup

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David Warner and Mitchell Starc left out of Australia squad for ODI series against England

“Like all selection matters, it was a tough decision, but like all players he understands the situation and knows he needs to get back to playing Ryobi Cup and making a heap of runs that we can’t ignore,” Lehmann said.

“I spoke with David at length about what he needs to do and I’ve been impressed with his attitude since I’ve come into the Australian setup.”

Warner might have been overshadowed in the T20s by Aaron Finch, whose 156 off 63 balls at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday was the stuff of hitting fantasy, but England’s bowlers will be pleased to see the back of him as he is also a dangerous batsman.

Suddenly, the prospective debuts of Jamie Overton, Chris Jordan and Boyd Rankin, opening bowlers all, just got a smidgen easier and England’s experimental squad does not look quite as vulnerable as it did.

England’s batsmen, too, will be more optimistic after the return home of Mitchell Starc, said to be suffering from lower back pain.

Starc lacks consistency but he possesses true magic in his ability to swing both the new and old ball at pace, something only Mitchell Johnson can do among the current group and then only during the transit of Venus.

Starc, who recovered from ankle surgery to make the Ashes tour, is the latest casualty in a line of Australian pace bowlers to suffer injuries this past year.

Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and Ryan Harris are also recovering from various ailments and along with Starc could be doubts for the first Ashes Test which begins in Brisbane on November 21.

The nub of the forthcoming five-match NatWest Series are an England side with fresh faces against an Australian side with fresh legs.

There will be some old hands in Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, England’s captain, and Jonathan Trott to guide the greenhorns, but it will be an interesting exercise to see whether the England Performance Programme and the Lions can adequately prepare players for the big time.

There is a big prize at stake, even for older players such as Luke Wright and Michael Carberry.

The 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is just 18 months away and players excelling against Michael Clarke’s savvy and motivated side are likely to be looked upon favourably by selectors when they come to refine their choices over the coming year.

“It’s about taking your chance while some of the other players like Ian Bell, James Anderson and Stuart Broad are being rested,” said Wright, who last played international 50-over cricket in the 2011 World Cup.

“It’s a massive series for myself and Chris Jordan.

“It’s something we have worked towards for a long time. Since I got injured and lost my place I have been desperate to get back into it. It’s an opportunity to stake a claim.

“Ultimately, you want to be in that next squad when it comes to going to Australia and then each one going on to the World Cup. The only way to do that is to take your chance.”

Australia squad: Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Fawad Ahmed, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade (wkt), Shane Watson.

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England v Australia, first T20: live

OVER 18: ENG 180/5 (Root 77* Buttler 18*) That's an excellent over from James Faulkner, good old fashioned blockhole stuff and England can manage no more than five singles off the over. Just 68 needed from 12 balls now. This is the highest aggregate score in a T20 (i.e. 248 + England's score = 428)

OVER 17: ENG 175/5 (Root 73* Buttler 16*) Mitchell back in. Remarkable shot from Root, Mitch sends down a 90mph ball outisde off and Root backs away and just flips it over the cover boundary for six. Now another precise, powerful shot through the offside for four and a pull for four as Root spots the slower cutter. Oh Mitch! Now a front foot no ball. WHY U DO THE BAD THING MITCH? Good recovery again though, fires it full and just wide enough. 74 needed from 18 balls Wonder if Rooty can get to a century? Unlikely but not impossible.

OVER 16: ENG 158/5 (Root 58* Buttler 15*) Root deals with Hazlewood's bouncer better this time, pulling it away for four. Now a savage shot from Buttler back past the bowler, a mighty flat six with a tennis shot. RRR 22.75

OVER 15: ENG 145/5 (Root 53* Buttler 7*) Fawad beats Buttler with a beauty, huge ripping leg-break that richly deserved a wicket. Fawad shows he's got a decent googly. After a slightly nervy start, this has been an encouraging debut from Fawad Ahmed, albeit that figures of 43/0 off four don't really reflect that. Buttler drives him for four through point in an eight-run over.

OVER 14: ENG 137/5 (Root 52* Buttler 0*) Jos cannot get either of his first two balls away

WICKET! Bopara c Warner b Watson 45 Ah, shame. An entertaining knock comes to an end. Ravi nails Watson for a couple of nice shots down the ground, but Watto is not as dumb as he looks (thank goodness). 12 off the first three balls of the over with Watto bolwing length, so he digs in the bouncer. Ravi goes after it, but he's not in the right position and he has succeded only in slapping that high in the air, Warner making no mistake at midwicket. FOW 137/5

OVER 13: ENG 125/4 (Root 52* Bopara 33*) Ha, bit of comedy here. As I say, Engand going for a single every ball now, and it was only a matter of time before one of the Aussie fielders hit. It's David Warner at midwicket, Ravi going to the bowler's end. Good throw by David Warner, he hits the stumps right at the base and both he and Ravi are sure it's out. Ravi, in fact, is walking off. But, quirkily, the ball has not really dislodged the bails, I guess maybe because it hit right at the base and when you actually look at it in slow mo, Ravi has jsut about got home before the bails pop out of their grooves. Something of an oddity because the ball hit the stumps with Ravi quite a way short. Root gets a four off the last ball of the Faulkner over, and that gives him a well made fifty. He's showed heart as well as skill, having been hit in the kisser early on.

OVER 12: ENG 115/4 (Root 48* Bopara 28*) Excellent over from Watson, England can manage only five off it. It's tip and run stuff now, and England sneak home for singles that would be curtains with direct hits. This partnership is worth 73 off 7.3 overs. RRR 16.75

Graeme: "Hi again Alan, you must be having a fun time this evening! What is it with the 'A' s? Ashton in the first Ashes Test then Aaron in the first T20. Is there something going on?"

OVER 11: ENG 110/4 (Root 46* Bopara 25*) Fawad. Go on Fawad, son. Oooh, this is close. Ravi has gone for a big sweep and missed it. Matthew Wade has the bails off in a trice and it's nip and tuck as to whether Ravi has got the foot back down or not. I think this is probably going to go in Ravi's favour and, after a lengthy TV umpire deliberation, he is given in. A wide, as it happens. Bopara down the track, turning a decent ball into a full toss and smashing it down the ground... and into a cameraman! Ouch. They sneak a quick single to finish the over and there 12 off the over. Even that is not enough, though. 139 needed from 54 balls, RRR 15.44

Peter mailed this earlier but it has all been a bit franctic: "Crikey Alan, looks as though we have lost this before picking up a bat in anger! Don't like to say this, but Stevie Finn's delivery stride problems don't look any better than when he was dropped from the Test side. Needs to put in much better performances than this in the next few weeks or his tour place could be at risk."

OVER 10: ENG 98/4 (Root 45* Bopara 15*) James Faulkner into the attack or, rather, the defence. Ravi panels an attempted yorker back past the bowler for four and, since losing those four wickets and, y'know, effectively losing the game, England are actually going along pretty nicely.

OVER 9: ENG 88/4 (Root 41* Bopara 9*) Root reverse sweeps and just for a second Fawad thinks that he has his maiden international wicket, but Root indeed got a little under edge on it. Both batsmen prepared to sweep Fawad, and Root starting to look pretty handy as he puills him away for four.

OVER 8: ENG 75/4 (Root 30* Bopara 7*) Watto comes on and sends down a solid enough over save for a couple of balls that stray down leg, Root is more than competent enough to work them away for fours.

OVER 7: ENG 64/4 (Root 19* Bopara 7*) The future of Australian leg-spin looks.... well, not brilliant on this limted evidence. Fawad slightly aprehensive, starts with a ball dragged down the legside, Bopara helps that on his way with a fine paddle. Ravi and Root are able to milk the spinner for some easy ones and twos. Ten off the over, but even that's not enough.

OVER 6: ENG 54/4 (Root 15* Bopara 1*) Two nice shots from Joe in this over, a four apiece. A flick through midwicket and then a cut behind point.

Graeme Whittaker: "Crikey Moses, it's all go isn't it? We seemed to be getting a right going over, I popped out for a few minutes and Jade D has bowled three of the bounders out! Still seems a half decent score thought, hope we bat better than in the Ashes Tests."

Evan Dunn: "It will be nice to see Carberry take up the challenge - Oh, wait, he's not playing! why pick him because he's in form and leave him out? More curious decisions by the management."

OVER 5: ENG 42/4 (Root 4* Bopara 0*) Indignity is piled upon indignity for England as Mitchell Johnson sends down a wicket maiden. Never mind The Oval pitch, England have wet themselves here in the face of Australia's admitttedly terrifying total.

WICKET! Morgan c Maxwell b Johnson 0 Crikey, this is a rout. Morgan has slapped the ball to point, sharp catch from Maxwell and mixed-bag Mitchell has his second wicket. FOW 42/4

OVER 4: ENG 42/3 (Morgan 0* Root 4*) Well, it all happened in that over. Not just the two wickets, but now Joe Root is hit in the mouth. Top edges the ball into his grille going for the pull, and if he hadn't had that metal grille young Joe would have been seriously, permanently hurt. A bit of the metal face guard flies off as he is struck and there is a delay as he receives treatment. David Warner is the first bloke up to check he's okay. Or maybe to check if he's not okay, who knows. Root is eventually okay to continue and he's hit a four, but this game is surely done and dusted b'now.

WICKET! Hales c Wade b Hazlewood 8 Oh dear, and that's two in two as Hales smears it high up in the air. Some confusion between Fawad Ahmed (intersting to note) and keeper Wade, each leaving it to the other and eventually the keeper has to make a lot of ground to dive full length and cling on. FOW 33/2

.... The batsmen cross, Luke Wright laces his first ball through the covers for four... but then....

WICKET! Wright c Wade b Hazlewood 4 Thin edge, Wright doesn't seem to think he hit it, but that's academic becuase the umpire does. England, having started quite brightly in chase of this mammoth score, have now lost three wickets in four balls. FOW 37/3 Looks like Wright's boot scrapped the ground, perhaps that is what the umpire heard.

OVER 3: ENG 33/1 (Hales 8*) Michael Lumb has been having some fun, he's hit a six and three fours but that's all over now off the last ball of the third over. He plays all around a full swinger from Mitchell, that's as plumb as you could wish for and a bright and breezy start comes to an end.

WICKET! Lumb lbw Johnson 22 Plumb, bang in front. FOW 33/1

20.23 Still, while there’s Mitchell Johnson, there’s always hope. He starts with a front foot no ball that Lumb chips over the infield for two. But Mitch digs himself out of a hole with a really good, really quick delivery. Pace is really good from Mitch. 92mph. Ah, but now a wide to go with that no ball.

Anyway, afraid I missed the next couple of overs because the computer crashed. What a pathetic effort from Team Telegraph’s technical arm. Yet again. Is it really so much to ask that we could have some computers that work? From what I can gather, Lumb managed to whack a few, and as my mickey mouse computer sputters back into life I see that Lumb has baseball batted Hazlewood back past the bowler for six. Cool.

Anyhow, after two overs it is ENG 26/0 (Lumb 20* Hales 3*)

20.07 The Aussies are back out, here come Hales and Lumb. Mitchell Johnson to bowl.

ENGLAND NEED 249 TO WIN As good a T20 knock as I have ever seen, Aaron Finch, who looks like Desperate Dan and hits the ball with terrifying power, has mashed England into submission with a 63-ball 156. Jade Dernbach the pick of the bowlers, but only by default really, as England had no answers to an astonishing display of power hitting that has given Aaron Finch the highest score in an interational T20. Almost impossible to see England winning from here.

OVER 20: AUS 248/6 (Wade 15* Faulkner 5*) England have actually fought back pretty well in the last three overs. Dernbach keeping things nice and tight in this last over, just six runs off it and the wicket and that's the end of the innings.

WICKET! Maxwell b Dernbach 1 Quick and straight from Dernbach, "you miss I hit". He's now picked up three-fer, so well bowled Jade, albeit that the match is surely beyond England now. It's going to take something remarkable. FOW 242/6

OVER 19: AUS 242/5 (Maxwell 1* Wade 14*) Couple of dot balls to Wade, but then a short ball that he can tuck away for a cheap four. Then Finn unwisely goes for a length ball, Wade smashes that over mid on for six. 18 sixes in the innings, and international T20 record. Pulls the ball away now, and Alex Hales just cannot quite get there. Four. 14 runs off the Finn over; he finishes with 1/45 off four. Dernbach to bowl the last over.

WICKET! Bailey lbw Finn 1 The skip comes across his stumps, tries to work it to leg and misses. Stone dead lbw. FOW 228/5

OVER 18: AUS 228/4 (Bailey 1* Maxwell 1*) Surely too late in the context of the game, but Jade has not only stopped the bleeding, that two-wicket over has ensured that England have two new men to bowl at.

WICKET! Finch b Dernbach 156 A four to start this over, but Dernbach has at last removed him, Finch for once not picking the slower ball and he's bowled. His incredible 63 ball knock comes to an end, he leaves to a standing ovation. FOW 226/3

... and then after a single ....

WICKET! Watson b Dernbach 37 Wonderful slower ball from Dernbach, a looper out the back of the hand, Watson is completely baffled by it, he looks as confused as a Watson trying to figure out how to use the DRS. Plays all around the ball, bowled leg stump, and a handy contribution comes to an end. FOW 228/4

OVER 17: AUS 222/2 (Finch 152* Watson 37*) This is the best T20 knock I have ever seen. Danny Briggs the latest lamb to the slaughter, a four and three sixes in this over. Morgan at midwicket is close to one as he leaps, but the other two, fuggedaboudit. He even pinches the strike off the last ball of the over. Astonishing batting.

OVER 16: AUS 199/2 (Finch 129* Watson 37*) Broad. Short and wide. Finch steps away and slams it over cover for another six, and that gives him the highest score in Twenty20 internationals. And Watson's all over England as well now. he gets the leg out of the way and hammers Broad for six, and then Broad hands him a full toss. Bang. Four. Absolute carnage down in Hampshire.

OVER 15: AUS 180/2 (Finch 121* Watson 26*) Heavens above. Luke Wright's first over was cheap, but this one has gone to all parts. 23 off it. Two more massive sixes from Finch, and now Watson's in on the act too, smashing the ball back over Wright's head for six. Poor from Wright, although to be fair how do you bowl to batting like this? Well, you don't serve it up on a length, at least. Chastening evening for England's bowlers so far.

OVER 14: AUS 157/2 (Finch 106* Watson 18*) Broad to Finch. Can he get the ton? He's done it! Fantastic batting from Aaron Finch. Looking a bit nervy as he dabs it into the offside and sets off for a non-existent run. Turns back, safe. And here it is! Shorter ball, he's swung that away fine, top edge in fact and.... oooh, is fine leg going to get there? No! Six runs. Aaron Finch has a T20 hundred. 105* off just 47 balls, what a knock this has been. The first international T20 ton in Britain.

OVER 13: AUS 145/2 (Finch 99* Watson 13*) Luke Wright, who's hardly bowled in the Friends Life T20 this year, comes on and puts the brakes on, thank goodness. Finchy has gone into the shell a bit. He takes two dabbed singles, and that's 44 balls. If he gets a single off the last ball of the over he can equal the record... Nah, he's dinked it to third man for no run. Good job Luke Wright, just four runs off the over.

OVER 12: AUS 141/2 (Finch 97* Watson 11*) Dernbach back on. Finch doing it in singles now. Watto gloves the ball through the slip cordon for a couple, then back cuts for one. That brings Finch back on. 96* off 41 balls. Another single. Finch taking it easy while Watson plays himself in. Poor ball from Jade now, on a length just outside off, that's Watson's favourite area and that rattles away. Same ball next delivery, Watson back, sets himself, front leg out the way, and then the weight comes forward and that superb timing and sheer strength send that ball humming to the long off boundary. Classic Watto.

OVER 11: AUS 128/2 (Finch 95* Watson 0*) Briggs has been the pick of the bowlers so far, six off that and the wicket. Finch is reduced to singles and, glory be, there's even a dot ball.

WICKET! Marsh c Lumb b Briggs 28 Respite for England, not the main man they wanted, but a wicket nevertheless as Marsh slogs it up in the air. He'd played a good second fiddle though, and this partnership has made Australia warm favourites. FOW 125/2

OVER 10: AUS 122/1 (Finch 91* Marsh 27*) Joe Root. Oh my goodness. This is savage. Finch has hit Joe Root for three sixes in a row. Down the ground, thoughts for a second that he hasn't got enough of it but that's flown away. Now a cleaner strike, sails back over the bowler for a big six. Now a fearsome flat six into the stands at midwicket. Follows these three sixes up with a four that laces through the offside for four. Ends the over with a thin edge for four. 27 runs off the over! 36 balls for 91* runs. The fastest T20 ton is 45 balls. It's on. It's very on.

OVER 9: AUS 95/1 (Finch 65* Marsh 26*) Grr, very poor from Michael Lumb. Briggs had managed to introduce some calm to the situation, five singles in a row and then the sixth ball of the over is bunted down the ground. But a misfield by Lumb! That makes it a nine-run over when really it should have been six off the over.

OVER 8: AUS 86/1 (Finch 59* Marsh 23*) Ravi Bopara is the latest lucky chap to have a bowl at Finch. Starts with a genuinely poor ball, short and wide, and that's cut for four. Rest of the over is a bit better, he even hits Finch on the pads and shouts for LBW, but that was going down leg. But that followed two more boundaries, Finch spots the slower ball and slams it for six to bring up his fifty, soon adding another four to go with. The fiddy up off just 26 balls and this is some fantastic T20 hitting. 15 off the over.

OVER 7: AUS 71/1 (Finch 49* Marsh 18*) Local lad Danny Briggs comes on but he cannot stem the bleeding. Finch gives himself room and cuts a four, and now Marsh smears it over cow for six. He didn't time that at all, but my goodness he's a strong blighter. Real Captain Caveman stuff as he toe-ends that for a maximum.

OVER 6: AUS 58/1 (Finch 44* Marsh 10*) Absolutely amazing shot from Finch off the last ball of Dernbach's over. He backs away a mile, actually falling over it looks like but somehow gets the toe of the bat onto a ball outside off srump, depositing it over cover for six! Decent over other than that, Jade nailing a couple of back-of-the-hand slowies and Steve Finn doing his bit with a super diving stop at short third man. As the powerplay comes to a close, though, Australia are well on top.

OVER 5: AUS 49/1 (Finch 37* Marsh 8*) Crikey, not getting any better for Finn. Or, rather, it was, in that the first five balls of the over go for just four (props to Joe Root for saving a boundary with a fine dive) but the last ball of the over is a slower ball, Finch reads it like a beano and slaughters it for six over square leg.

OVER 4: AUS 39/1 (Finch 28* Marsh 7*) A three to Finch, Lumb doing well to save the boundary, and then an attractive stroke from Marsh, playing very late and cracking it through point for four. Ten off the over.

OVER 3: AUS 29/1 (Finch 25* Marsh 0*) Finny has problems. He's falling away in the delivery stride and dropping the ball on leg stump, and friend Finch is treating him to some fearful tap. Flick to long leg, a savage on drive off the back foot, and then a slower ball that's spotted early and slammed away. Four for each. 13 off the over and Finn is not going well at all.

Peter Rowntree: "Yes player rotation has caused some controversy in the last few days. But for T20 their are specialist players such as Lumb, Hales etc. Also gives the chance for England to look at some of the probables given that there are possibly 2 or 3 tour places still up for grabs. So personally not against it, and rather surprised that KP is being risked in the ODI games given his injury problems in the last few months."

OVER 2: AUS 16/1 (Finch 13* Marsh 0*) We were expecting Watto in at three not Marsh. Finch edges Broad through where slip isn't and should be. Four.

WICKET! Warner c Buttler b Broad 1 Bwa-ha-ha. All happening here. Finch goes for a quick single, Jade Dernbach with the throw, and he's completely misjudged it and thrown the ball right into Finch's groin! Ouch. Some industrial langauge from the Aussie opener, and frankly who can blame him? JD apologises and everyone's cool. Now Warner goes for the big shot, hoicks it miles up in the air and he's lost the grip of his bat in the process. Buttler is under the steepler and he's out. Bit of a delay while we check for the no ball. It's perilously close, but he's just about okay. The batsmen cross. FOW 11/1

OVER 1: AUS 10/0 (Warner 1* Finch 7*) Good start from Finny. Full and straight. The pitch looks dry and dusty, the first nut disturbs the surface. Couple of leg byes, and now Warner has hoicked one away, it lands on the bounce a few yards in from the fielder at long leg. Ha! But here's Finchy! Hanging back on the back foot, and he's swung his very first ball away for six over square leg. Single off the last ball and that makes ten off it. Oh. Poor Finny. Not a bad over. It wasn't a bad ball, the one that went for six, either.

18.27 Looks like it will be Finny to start from the Northern End. Aw, good old Paul Allot is on comms.

18.25 Players are out, handshakes all round. Pleasant evening there. Here come Warner and Finch. The straight boundary is close, but it's a long way to the ropes square of the wicket.

18.19 Gimmicks aside, this could be an entertaining evening. Both sides are packed with power hitters, there's the boom-or-bust joys of Mitch and Jade, a debute leggie... Apparently, Fawad has only ever played one T20 before in his whole pro career.

18.17 Oh look. Parachutes. How exciting. Cricket's idea of what makes a spectacle is alway funny.

18.13 I am looking forward to getting another look at Aaron Finch, he cracked a 53* against England at Melbourne in January 2011, but has been promoted up the order since then. It's a formidable top three for the men in green and gold.

18.09 And England fans who are enjoying a beer or two will be pleased to see that Mitchell Johnson is back in the side. But the real story here has to be the inclusion of the Pakistan leggie Fawad Ahmed, who fled his home country after persecution from religious extremists (for coaching women cricketers, as I understand it) and has been fast-tracked into the national set-up for his new one. Good luck to him.

18.04 Selection questions all over the place here. Warner and Finch at the top of the order for the Aussies. Shame, Michael Carberry hasn't made the XI for England. "32-year-old, what is the point of having him in the squad and not playing him?" asks Nasser. Quite so. A bit of a dusty pitch, apparently. Steve Finn is in the team for England, but Tredders is left out in favour of local boy Danny Briggs.

England: Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Luke Wright, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Danny Briggs, Jade Dernbach

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood, Fawad Ahmed

18.02 Here's Knighty with the captains and the coin. Broad is the tosser. England win toss and bowl. George Bailey says he wanted to bat anyway. Fawad Ahmed plays.

18.00 Considerable pomp and circumstance on Sky Sports for this game. Yet to see any pictures of the ground or the players. Ah, speak of the devil. Here is the Ageas Bowl.

17.55 Who do you fancy for tonight's game? Even money your Aussies, England just odds-on. A lot of bookies make both teams 10/11. Greedy beggars.

17.45 Jade Dernbach talking on TV now about his bowling plans. He's brighter than you'd think, Jade. Seems to be a guy who thinks about his bowling quite clearly and impressively. Jonathan Liew did a good interview with him recently. He still dresses like an absolute weapon, though. Jade, not Jonathan. Jonathan dresses nicely.

17.40 Gutting to hear that poor Ryan Harris has gone in the leg again. They're saying two months for his hamstring to heal. What is it with these Aussie bowlers and their fitness?

17.35 England come into the first of these two Twenty20s with their tails up, the T20 side has done quite well recently, and there's the World T20 in March to look forward to. England's talented but still somewhat erratic side contains many young lads with cases to make for that. The Aussies, meanwhile, are picking from a squad of 18 and will want to buld on the momentum of some encouraging individual performances as the Test series went on.

17.30 Afternoon all, welcome to our live blog coverage of the first Twenty20 between England and Australia. We'll be bringing you the action from Hampshire's Rose Bowl ground. Play starts at 18.30.

A neat idea this afternoon, they put the women's cricket on beforehand. England restricted the Aussies to 127 but then slumped to 9/3. It looked like being a tight finish - we needed 42 from 33 balls at four wickets down, but a super unbeaten 80 from Lydia Greenway saw England home with six balls to spare. The five-wicket win means that England have secured the Ashes. Hats off to Charlotte Edwards and her side.

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Ashes 2013: England to step up security in Australia after Darren Lehmann's outburst

Broad revealed on Monday that the Australia coach has apologised to him for his remarks, but England will still be taking no chances.

“It is utterly deplorable for any attempt to endanger the physical safety of any player of any nation whether on the pitch, the boundary, or relaxing away from the cricket,” said Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“It is absolutely unacceptable and we will seek the proper safety for players. I’m sure the Australian authorities want the tour to be conducted in a peaceful and jovial manner.”

Andy Flower, England team director, also confirmed that there would be extra security in light of Lehmann’s comments, though he also stressed how the last Ashes tour to Australia had been a good experience on and off the field.

“It’s something we’re taking very seriously,” said Flower yesterday. “We enjoyed our tour of Australia last time, there’s always a little bit of barracking and what have you. In the main it’s fairly good natured and I’d hope it’ll be the same this next trip.”

The extent of reinforcement is not yet known and the England and Wales Cricket Board will await the recommendation of Reg Dickason, its security officer. All that a spokesman would confirm is that there would be no budget constraints on Dickason.

England usually have Dickason and one other security officer on tour with them, their duties ranging from getting the players on and off team buses, to planning the routes of those buses from hotel to ground, and escorting players to restaurants in the evening or on shopping trips by day. The thought is there will be at least one more addition to their retinue at a cost of at least £70,000 per person.

Although Flower likes his players to feel they are up against the world, he does not want them to be insular and become trapped in their hotel rooms. Added security will enable players to go out individually or in different groups.

Broad angered Australia’s players and public alike when he did not walk after clearly edging the ball in the opening Test at Trent Bridge. He then tried to justify his actions in a media interview before the final Test, which provoked Lehmann into making comments for which he was later fined £2,000 by the International Cricket Council.

“I hope the Australian public give it to him right from the word go for the whole summer,” Lehmann said. “And I hope he cries and goes home ”

The Australia coach apologised to Broad for the comments after the Test series ended on Sunday. "Spoke to Darren Lehmann. He apologised for his comments, I accepted. He said they were made in jest for banter. Done," Broad tweeted yesterday.

Lehmann also promised to learn from the experience. "It was a good learning curve for a new coach, wasn't it?" he said.

"You know, it was a jovial setting but you've got to learn from that. The players aren't on their own in trying to improve, coaches have got to improve so that's something I've got to get better at."

Australia usually makes tourists feel very welcome – and 50,000 fans are expected for the next Ashes series – but the worry is that Broad, whose 6ft 6in frame and blond hair helps him cut a distinctive figure, might be fair game for the odd patriotic “Hoon” to have a go at. It happened to John Crawley in Cairns on the 1994/5 tour when he was punched to the floor by a local man for no apparent reason other than that he looked Irish.

On that same tour occupants of the MCG’s infamous Bay 13 lobbed snooker balls at England’s players during a one-day international there. Australia tends to frown on such behaviour these days but the worry is that Lehmann’s comments might have provided enough “incitement,” in the words of the ECB, to bring them out of their lairs.

Australia's coach has been vilified in the Australian press. What has not been addressed is the role of the radio stations in provoking responses like his. Lehmann spoke to Triple M but it was another station, 2 Day FM, which instigated the royal prank last December when their two presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, posed as the Queen and the Prince of Wales to inquire at a clinic about the Duchess of Cambridge’s morning sickness.

The prank made global headlines and was followed by the suicide of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who fielded the call from the two pranksters.

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Andy Flower coy about his long-term future with England ahead of Ashes series in Australia later this year

“I don’t look that far ahead to be honest,” he said. “You never know what’s just round the corner in sport.

"I do take the responsibility that the England and Wales Cricket Board have given me very seriously and I’m supposed to make a difference to English cricket in a positive way. I’ll continue to do that.”

For starters he will want to see who the ECB appoints in Hugh Morris’s place as managing director of England cricket, after Morris handed in his resignation on Monday

Flower worked well with Morris, who is to become Glamorgan’s chief executive in the new year, and while it was felt that their relationship had perhaps run its course a while ago, he will want to see what rapport he has with the new incumbent when they are appointed.

The return Ashes series concludes next January after which England play no Test cricket overseas for the remainder of the year as the focus shifts to the 2015 World Cup.

The result of that Ashes series could be crucial and some believe Flower will have a job keeping the team together as several senior players may seek to retire from international cricket.

“I don’t think that will happen,” Flower said. “There will always be movement because it’s a competitive environment and we select the side we think will have the best chance of winning a match or series.

"In that regard it’s quite a ruthless world. No one’s there forever, no matter how great a player is, or however great an MD is, or however a coach is going. We all move on.”

The splitting of the role into Test and one-day cricket, with Ashley Giles taking day-to-day control of the latter, was done at Flower’s behest in order for him to achieve a better work-life balance, which was out of kilter with him being away from his young family for up to 250 days a year.

It was also done to increase his longevity in the job, with the ECB readily agreeing to the split role last December.

Yet that split, a difficult thing for an avowed control freak like Flower, is likely to be tested next year when there are no overseas Test matches after Jan 7.

Although not one to wallow in plaudits, Flower did miss out on overseeing England’s first 4-0 Ashes victory after the umpires called the game off for bad light when they needed 21 runs off 24 balls.

Views on the umpires’ decision have varied wildly, but while Flower did not really blame them, he was critical of the International Cricket Council, whose change to the playing conditions placed such decisions solely in the hands of umpires.

“We have spoken to the ICC a number of times over the years and while I can’t speak for the ECB, the description in the regulations of how they judge bad light I think is poorly written,” Flower said.

“The emphasis is on safety and very rarely is there a safety issue out in the middle.

"In my personal opinion it should be either a very strict reading on the light meter where there is a universal reading they could adhere to, or it should be about the fairness of the balance of the contest between bat and ball.

“I thought it was a very tricky situation last night because it was so close to a conclusion and the responsibility to entertain the people that were in the ground and watching on television has to be taken seriously.

"Did they get it right? Ask them.”

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England v Australia: Stuart Broad confident of prolonging Australia's 200-day losing streak

"It's up to us to continue that form and that responsibility falls on these players. It's an exciting responsibility."

Broad leads a much-changed team from the Test series with only Joe Root and Steven Finn having also played in the Ashes.

Hampshire batsman Michael Carberry could make an England return on his home ground for the first time since winning his only international cap in the Test arena against Bangladesh three years ago.

Carberry was the second-highest runscorer in this season's Friends Life t20 but faces a tough task to break up the opening partnership of Alex Hales and Michael Lumb.

And with the likes of Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara and Jo Buttler behind them Broad thinks England's batsmen can overpower the seventh-ranked Australians.

"It's an exciting line-up and there are some powerful players," he said.

"It's great as a captain to know you have that firepower in the side.

"We'll be better the more we play together and getting experience and dovetail. You watch some of the partnerships that Alex Hales and Lumb have had and the way Morgs strikes it and the way Jos has finished games; there's a real belief in that changing room that we can set a huge target or chase a huge target down.

"That's a good place to be as a Twenty20 side and it's great for English cricket to have so many exciting Twenty20 talents."

Australia Twenty20 captain George Bailey denied his side's barren run was playing on their minds, as they look to exact a measure of revenge for the Ashes.

"They say winning is a habit and I tend to agree with that," he said.

"Stating the obvious but you don't go out and try and win any more.

"There were none of those games since February where we thought we've won one recently so we won't try and win this one.

"I think that is more fodder for you guys than for us to deal with.

"It's pretty blatant what we want to do. We plan to win. It's the same regardless of what has happened in the past."

Edited by Thom Gibbs

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Ashes 2013: Australia face further misery as seamer Ryan Harris faces fitness battle ahead of winter Test series

Harris, 33, was Australia's man of the series in the recent Test tour of England - claiming 24 wickets at 19.58 in four matches.

That was the first time he has ever played four Tests in a row due to a career-long battle with fitness problems.

Indeed, he has worn the Baggy Green just 16 times since his debut in March 2010 despite being considered one of his country's most incisive bowlers and boasting a superb record.

A Cricket Australia statement read: "Ryan Harris injured his right hamstring during the latter part of the second innings on the fifth Ashes Test. He had to leave the field and did not return to the game as he was unable to bowl.

"He was assessed after arriving back in Australia today and is expected to be unavailable to play for the next 6-8 weeks."

He was left out of this summer's Ashes opener at Trent Bridge but was arguably the most consistent pace man from either side after his belated arrival in the Lord's Test.

Speaking after taking five wickets in his first innings of the series, Harris said his ambition stretched only as far as flying home with his team-mates when the time came, rather than alone with yet another injury.

He managed that in the end, but only just. He was forced to watch the thrilling climax to the final Test from the dressing room at the Kia Oval having felt his hamstring tighten.

The first Test in Brisbane begins on November 21, leaving Harris with limited rehabilitation time should his recovery be completed as expected.

It is the latest in a succession of fitness issues among Australia's talented pace division, with Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and Jackson Bird all being struck down with back injuries in the last few weeks.

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