Australia are in heaven at the moment after their 5-0 Ashes victory over the old enemy, But will they be brought back to Earth after this one day international series?
Michael Clarke has told the world of his ambition to become the number one ODI team in the world. Winning this series would be a giant step towards that goal, but England also have this ambition.
So who will win?
The Australian side is a brilliant line-up. With big hitters like Shane Watson, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch and George Bailey and nice controlled batsman like Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin, it is easy to see Australia have a side which can set big totals and can chase targets.
All of those batsman have also been in terrific form in either the Ashes or the Big Bash League.
On the flipside, England have Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Ravi Bopara, Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan and Jos Butler.
Some of those batsman have been struggling of late, but players like Ben Stokes and Jos Butler have been in terrific form of late and both players are capable of making big totals this series.
Australia’s bowling side is also a good one, with James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Shaun Marsh and the explosive Mitchell Johnson, although he was rested for the first match at the MCG.
The only doubt for Australia in that bowling squad is Clint McKay. He has not been in form lately and was dropped from the Stars.
When James Pattinson has a bit more match practice he is likely to replace McKay.
England’s bowling attack is Tim Bresnan, Ben Stokes, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad and Boyd Rankin.
This is a dismal attack, with Broad having a rest for the first two matches.
England are going to be hurt by the absence of James Anderson during this series.
Key players
The key players for Australia are David Warner, Shane Watson and James Faulkner.
The two batsmen are two of the best players in the world with the white ball and they need to bat well to get Australia into good positions.
James Faulkner is going to Australia’s key bowler in the series and he can keep a batsmen’s strike rate low.
England’s key players will be Ben Stokes and Ian Bell. Stokes is a brilliant all-rounder with great potential, but he is going to have to carry a lot of the bowling responsibilities for the side.
If England are going to bat well at all they need Ian Bell to step up. He is a great batsman that can make big totals, but at the moment he is lacking vital confidence.
England are going to be hurt majorly by the absence of Kevin Pieterson, James Anderson and, in the first two matches, Stuart Broad.
It will be a hard task for England. Australia is a very strong side looking to be the number one ODI team before the World Cup next year and I don’t think Australia are going to be out of the clouds anytime soon.
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