Sterner tests ahead for Kieswetter

The English press are largely happy with the decision to reward most of the World Twenty20 winners with a place in the squad for the upcoming one-dayers against Australia. England have long struggled to find a settled one-day opening pair, and Michael Atherton writes in the Times that he is intrigued to see how the latest combination - captain Andrew Strauss and newcomer Craig Kieswetter - will work.

The story of the tortoise and the hare needs no retelling, but depending how restricting English conditions and a decent pace attack will be for Kieswetter, the contrast between Strauss’s tortoise and Kieswetter’s hare will be significant. If Kieswetter can succeed in scoring big runs at a quick pace, then that will add pressure on Strauss, especially if the captain fails to translate good early-season Test form on to the one-day stage.

Mike Selvey writes in the Guardian that the squad is the clearest indication that Andy Flower sees the Twenty20 success as a blueprint in the build-up to the 2011 World Cup.

Stephen Brenkley has similar views in the Independent, where he also writes that Strauss' place in the ODI side isn't under as much pressure as is being made out in the media.

England have a probable 21 one-day matches between now and the start of the World Cup next February. It is their objective to refine the muscular approach which has pervaded all three elements of their game in the last nine months, starting with the Champions Trophy last September.

One of the two main orchestrators of this is Andrew Strauss, the captain, who overhauled England's philosophy with the coach, Andy Flower – which is why suggestions that his place was vulnerable were at best premature, at worst uninformed nonsense. Strauss needs some runs in the sense that batsmen always need runs but it is clear that England want him to be at the helm come the sub-continental World Cup.

One of few surprises was the recall of Ian Bell, who has been rewarded for working to improve his strike-rate in limited-overs formats says Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph.

On Cricket Central, Richard Hobson makes a spirited case for keeping Strauss as one-day captain.