Australians drift after McGrath ruled out

Andrew Flintoff starred with the bat for the World XI on Wednesday © Getty Images

One man does not make a team but the news that Glenn McGrath is to be rested for Friday's second one-day international against the Rest of the World has been taken on board by the bookmakers. Having been unable to split the two sides, bet365 now make Rest of the World 4/6 (1.66) favourites, while the Aussies are 11/10 (2.10) to take an unbeatable 2-0 series lead.

McGrath was at his miserly best on Wednesday with two for 13 from seven overs, and without the control that he brings to the side, Australia may struggle to contain the Rest of the World batting line-up. Without him to worry about, it's hard to imagine how Sehwag, Kallis, Lara, Dravid and Pietersen could all be dismissed for single-figure scores a second time round, and you have to expect at least one and maybe more of them to make a decent score on Friday. On the plus side, Anndrew Flintoff looked in good form and their bowlers performed decently, particularly Daniel Vettori.

The joy on the faces of the Australian players when they took the last ROW wicket on Wednesday was telling. After their Ashes defeat, they had been hurt by critisicm from many quarters and they came out at the Telstra Dome with a point to prove.

The new players in the team performed well, and though they put down a few catches, they were the far superior side. The cliche that a champion team will always beat a team of champions held true and the Rest of the World will need to put together a much better display if they're to win the second match.

For the record, Australia have won 76 of their last 100 one-day internationals, and lost just 18. And of the losses, McGrath played in just 11 of them.