Australia still team to beat, says Strauss

SOUTHAMPTON: England may have enjoyed success against Australia during the past year but captain Andrew Strauss insists they remain the team to beat in one-day internationals.

The old rivals begin a five-match limited overs series at the Rose Bowl here on Tuesday with England, who won the Ashes last year and beat Australia in the World Twenty20 final in Barbados last month, looking to complete a 'treble' with victory over the Aussies in the third of international cricket's formats.

But Australia are world champions in the 50-over game.

Last year, after losing the Ashes on English soil, they thrashed England 6-1 in a one-day series and then beat them by nine wickets in the semi-finals on the way to winning the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

"If you look at the way Australia have played one-day cricket over the last 12 months they are the team to beat," Strauss told reporters here on Monday.

"I don't think there's a one-day team out there with a better record than them...It's not going to be easy."

Australia have arrived in England without injured fast bowlers Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle and now it is down to the likes of left-arm quick Doug Bollinger, Clint McKay and Ryan Harris to plug the gaps.

Strauss's county colleague Owais Shah said Australia's pace attack lacked the "X-factor" after scoring 92 against them for Middlesex at Lord's in the tourists' final warm-up match on Saturday.

However, Strauss said: "I think it would be disrespectful to say they haven't got that X-factor.

"They probably don't have the pace of someone like Brett Lee now but we've seen before that express pace in one-day cricket can be an attacking option but also quite hard to defend."

This series will see left-hander Strauss opening with Craig Kieswetter, man-of-the-match in the World Twenty20 final for a blistering 63.

The duo shared a century stand first time out together in England's warm-up win over Scotland and Strauss said: "He's got the ability to hit those big shots and clear the ropes, which takes pressure off at the other end."

Strauss, a more restrained batsman, added: "I wouldn't want to rein him in unless the risk profile was going through the roof. He's clearly got a big range of exciting shots and we want to see those."