Australia keen to continue progress

Match facts

September 14, Cardiff
Start time 10.15 (0915 GMT)

Big Picture

This series has been reduced to a three-match contest following the abandonment at Edgbaston, so England now face, in Eoin Morgan's words, a "semi-final and a final" in the remaining two matches if they are to win this series.

Winning is the stated aim for England despite their experimental squad and, given the shortened nature of the series, winning is perhaps all they can expect to take from it because there is now little opportunity to have a look at the players they called up. Michael Carberry won't want to be judged on just three innings and Morgan said he will retain his place as opener for the rest of this series. Likewise, England would like Steven Finn to get some more game time to gauge where his bowling is ahead of the winter Ashes tour; Finn perhaps feels that he needs a solid performance to nail down a place as backup bowler in the Test squad.

Jamie Overton and Chris Jordan will now probably get one chance at best to announce their arrival in international cricket and none of the batsmen now need a rest so the opportunity for Luke Wright to return is slim.

What cricket there has been in this series, Australia have played by far the best of it and they will be eager to get back on the park again and continue their progress. They have been motivated, sharp in all departments and desperately keen to take something away from what has been a tough tour. The form of George Bailey at Old Trafford suggested Michael Clarke might find some support and Mitchell Johnson has been back to his terrifying best, suggesting he could become a fine bowler in all forms of the game again.

Form guide

England LWLWW (Completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWLLW

Watch out for

Steven Finn can't make up his mind whether he's a high class international bowler or not. He has all the attributes to do so but there has been a sense of him being dragged from pillar to post by England and Middlesex. A change of run up and back again; in and out of the Test side; none of it can have helped Finn's confidence but if he can rediscover the form that tore through New Zealand in the ODI series back in February, we could be talking about Finn as England's next superstar again.

Aaron Finch showed what a blistering player he can be in the Twenty20 at the Ageas Bowl. He followed that up with a battering of Scotland and is primed to show he can produce regularly in ODIs. He endured a lean series against West Indies in February but is now clearly striking the ball at his best.

Team news

England are a pretty stubborn bunch when it comes to selection and just because they were rolled over once does not mean the make-up of their side needs to change, despite widespread opinion that they are a bowler light. It might take one more failure before they get the message, so expect an unchanged XI.

England (possible) 1 Michael Carberry, 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Joe Root, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Ben Stokes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Boyd Rankin, 11 Steven Finn

Australia are also likely to stick with the same side that handed down a thumping to England at Old Trafford.

Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Fawad Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

We have a decent forecast again so hopefully this match will be uninterrupted. But the pitch in Cardiff is unpredictable. During the Champions Trophy, a run-fest ensued between South Africa and India before the bowlers took charge when New Zealand played Sri Lanka. Scores in the Yorkshire Bank 40 have also been a mixed bag.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have to go back to 2001 for their only win in an ODI at Cardiff; a seven-wicket triumph over Pakistan in the NatWest series
• England have pitched up six times to Cardiff for an ODI but on only three occasions have they completed the match
• Of those three matches, England have won them all, including beating Australia by four wickets in 2010
• George Bailey is 30 runs short of 1000 in ODIs

Quotes

"It's always nice to be around the environment, and if you do the right things you can put your name in the ring."
James Tredwell on his chances of a call up for England Ashes squad down under

"It's pretty catchy. I didn't like it when I first came over. I didn't expect it. Now, it doesn't bother me. It's all part of the game, I know what to expect over here now."
Mitchell Johnson now takes the ribbing from England fans in his stride