Australia Primed to End Tour on a High

Chester-le-Street: More than three months after they first arrived in England for the World Twenty20, Australia's core group of players could be granted a moment of self pity. After all three months is a long time to be away from home, made all the longer by a forgettable experience in the WT20, a disparaging Ashes campaign and a pointless few days in Manchester.

Captain Ricky Ponting has flown home for a rest and will miss the start of the series, leaving stand-in skipper Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Hauritz and Shane Watson among those who have not been afforded a holiday since the tour began.

This time last year the South Africans left behind to perform one-day duties found themselves hounded around the country, fresh misery awaiting them at every turn. Fortunately for those hoping that this series will not turn into a lengthy ordeal, such one-sidedness seems highly unlikely.

For starters, Australia still have so much to prove. Not only have they lost the precious urn and failed dismally in the T20 jamboree; this year they've also lost their perch at the top of the Test and one-day trees.

Team news:

England Denly's demise means Eoin Morgan will surely return to the middle order, having been overlooked against his old team-mates, Ireland, in favour of England's Oval Test hero, Jonathan Trott. Trott has not been selected for this squad as yet, but could well return to the reckoning if Denly is ruled out for the whole campaign. Strauss, who sat out the Ireland fixture as well as the Old Trafford washouts, returns to the top of the order as captain, with Paul Collingwood returning to the ranks.

Squad (likely): Ravi Bopara, Andrew Strauss (capt), Matt Prior (wk), Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom.

Australia have been forced to field their third international keeper of the summer - and their fourth in all contests - following Brad Haddin's return home for surgery on his broken finger. And Tim Paine, his understudy, could well be asked to open the batting as well, with Clarke keeping Ponting's No. 3 berth warm in his absence.

Squad (likely): Shane Watson, Tim Paine (wk), Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken.

Pitch and conditions
It looks dry out there, which is a start. After the bog of Belfast and the mudbath in Manchester, anything firm underfoot will suit the sides nicely. An added consideration will be the Oval floodlights, which are something of an unknown quantity in English conditions.

Stats and trivia

• England have won their last five completed ODI matches in a row, a run of form they have not emulated since their tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2004-05.
• Australia have won seven of their last ten ODIs against England, including six in a row in the 2006-07 CB Series which England somehow claimed in the final. The sides have not met over 50 overs since the World Cup in Antigua in April 2007 (which Australia won, of course).

Match facts
Friday, September 4, 2009 (day/night)
Start time 13.00 (12.00 GMT)

Head 2 Head