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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David Willey's century in vain as Northants' place in YB40 semi-final proves elusive

Northamptonshire missed out on a place in the YB40 semi-finals in agonising circumstances despite David Willey plundering 167, his maiden senior century, in the rout of Warwickshire.

Northamptonshire were denied the Group A title by Nottinghamshire’s win over Kent at Canterbury and wins for Glamorgan and Somerset in Group C then dashed their hopes of progressing to the semi-finals as the best runner-up.

It was 40 minutes after Muhammad Azharullah yorked Recordo Gordon before Northamptonshire discovered their fate which meant an anticlimactic end to a day dominated by Willey, who hit 10 sixes and 12 fours in a spectacular 101-ball innings of clean hitting against a depleted and demoralised attack.

The left-hander had struck his first Twenty20 half-century and claimed a hat-trick in Northamptonshire’s Twenty20 final win over Surrey at Edgbaston nine days earlier and he again made the ground a home-from-home by racing from a 40-ball fifty to his first century in any competition in only 22 more balls.

Willey was surprisingly overlooked for England’s Twenty20 squad against Australia but his inclusion in the England Lions squad for last week’s match against Bangladesh A proves that he is on the selectors’ radar.

This innings was another reminder of Willey’s talents but it was made against a threadbare Warwickshire attack which included only three specialist bowlers and only one of them, off-spinner Jeetan Patel, a senior player. Only Patel, who took two for 32, escaped punishment from Willey who took four of his sixes off Darren Maddy, who was given the honour of leading out Warwickshire in his final one-day appearance at the end of a 20-year career.

Maddy was given a guard of honour by Northamptonshire’s players when he came out to bat, but little went right for him from the moment that Willey lifted his fifth ball over long on for the first in his fusillade of sixes.

Maddy managed only a single from three balls before he was smartly stumped by David Murphy down the leg side off Trent Copeland and departed to a standing ovation.

Willey failed by five runs to equal Wayne Larkins’s Northamptonshire record 40-over score of 172, also made against Warwickshire at Luton 30 years ago, when he scooped Tom Milnes to long on seeking his eleventh six.

But Northamptonshire easily reached their highest 40-over total with Rob Keogh, who gave Willey excellent support in a fifth wicket stand of 101, reaching his first senior fifty.

Keogh also timed the ball sweetly on an excellent batting pitch and reached his fifty with his only six, pulled off a Gordon full toss, before he skied the last ball of the innings to midwicket.

Warwickshire suffered the embarrassment of finishing bottom of their group, below minnows Holland, and without a home win just a year after they suffered a last-ball defeat to Hampshire in last season’s final.

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Ashes 2013: David Warner hits 193 for Australia A to restate Test claim

Warner was sent to Africa for match practice after being suspended for punching Joe Root and in his final match for Australia?A he struck 29 fours and a six against South Africa A in Pretoria.

He is due to return to this country at the weekend and link up with Australia in Hove during their three-day match against Sussex.

England confirmed on Wednesday that James Taylor, the Nottinghamshire batsman, would guest for Sussex as Andy Flower looks at candidates as cover for Kevin Pietersen, who is being treated for a calf injury.

Australia have called up Western Australia spinner Ashton Turner, 20, to the team to fill holes caused by injury. Turner, like Ashton Agar, is a Cricket Australia scholar working with Hampshire and will make his first-class debut.

Nathan Lyon returns to the side with a chance to earn a recall for the third Test next week after losing his place to Agar. “To be left out of the team for an Ashes Test match is not that easy to take but that comes down to the personality of the person,” Lyon said. “I believe my best ball can get the best batters in the world out. The thing is that I have to keep doing that over and over and over.”

Plenty of Australian players are struggling for form but England have room for improvement too with Jonathan Trott, usually such a consistent contributor, averaging 26.50 from four innings having thrown his wicket away on a couple of occasions.

“Anybody can get out quite early in their innings, I suppose,” Trott said. “You haven’t contributed for the team but, if you get fifty, at least you have done something towards the team effort, although on a personal note it is pretty upsetting because you have done all the hard work.

“I get myself out sometimes if I am brutally honest. That’s something I try to pride myself on not doing. It’s frustrating but I feel in the past that I have contributed. Other people like Joe [Root] and Ian [Bell] have stepped in, perhaps it is my turn for the rest of the series.”

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Ashes 2013: David Warner hits century for Australia A against South Africa A

Warner was sent to Africa for match practice after being suspended for punching Joe Root and in his final match for Australia?A he struck 29 fours and a six against South Africa A in Pretoria.

He is due to return to this country at the weekend and link up with Australia in Hove during their three-day match against Sussex.

England confirmed on Wednesday that James Taylor, the Nottinghamshire batsman, would guest for Sussex as Andy Flower looks at candidates as cover for Kevin Pietersen, who is being treated for a calf injury.

Australia have called up Western Australia spinner Ashton Turner, 20, to the team to fill holes caused by injury. Turner, like Ashton Agar, is a Cricket Australia scholar working with Hampshire and will make his first-class debut.

Nathan Lyon returns to the side with a chance to earn a recall for the third Test next week after losing his place to Agar. “To be left out of the team for an Ashes Test match is not that easy to take but that comes down to the personality of the person,” Lyon said. “I believe my best ball can get the best batters in the world out. The thing is that I have to keep doing that over and over and over.”

Plenty of Australian players are struggling for form but England have room for improvement too with Jonathan Trott, usually such a consistent contributor, averaging 26.50 from four innings having thrown his wicket away on a couple of occasions.

“Anybody can get out quite early in their innings, I suppose,” Trott said. “You haven’t contributed for the team but, if you get fifty, at least you have done something towards the team effort, although on a personal note it is pretty upsetting because you have done all the hard work.

“I get myself out sometimes if I am brutally honest. That’s something I try to pride myself on not doing. It’s frustrating but I feel in the past that I have contributed. Other people like Joe [Root] and Ian [Bell] have stepped in, perhaps it is my turn for the rest of the series.”

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