What: Tri-Series ODI
Who: Australia v England
When: Friday, January 16 – 2.20pm (AEDT)
Where: The SCG
I Can Watch It On: Channel Nine
Things you need to know
Australia's 15-man squad will contest the Tri-Series, however Gurinder Sandhu and Kane Richardson have been added as standby players due to injury concerns over skipper Michael Clarke (back/hamstring) and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh (hamstring). Clarke is still recovering from recent surgery to repair a hamstring injury suffered in the first Test against India. George Bailey will captain the side if Clarke is unavailable. Maligned batsman Glenn Maxwell heads into the opening game back in top form after belting 136 from 89 balls against the Poms for the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on Wednesday. The Aussies are coming off a 4-1 series victory over South Africa in November, which saw them return to top spot on the ICC ODI rankings.
England will take their 15-man World Cup squad into this series, with new skipper Eoin Morgan at the helm. Gone are exiled batsman Kevin Pietersen and dumped former skipper Alastair Cook, leaving Ian Bell, Moeen Ali and Morgan to pick up the slack with the bat. Bell enters in good touch after belting 187 off 145 against the PM's XI while fellow opener Ali is a dasher at the top of the order and hit 71 off 49 in Canberra. Stuart Broad took 4-40 at Manuka Oval and will lead England's attack alongside James Anderson. The Poms are coming off a 5-2 series drubbing against Sri Lanka in November-December.
Reason to watch
David Warner and Joe Root on the same pitch. We're tipping good old Davey won't put one on his chin this time but the Australian opener will be keen to make a statement to all of the England players.
Reason to turn away
It's Australia v England, don't turn away for a second.
Say what
"It's obviously a big tournament for him and I think you saw the form he was in this summer. He's opening the batting, so he's going to get a chance to bat big every single innings he plays. I know from speaking to him he thinks he's got some things to prove in one-day cricket, so I expect some things from him," - Australia quick Pat Cummins on Warner.
Final word
Australia are heavy favourites with the bookies and we can't disagree with them. England still have some quality players with both bat and ball but with Cook and Pietersen both gone they have lost any aura they once had. Michael Clarke's side are currently ranked number one in ODIs while Eoin Morgan's men have fallen to fifth. It'll be competitive but we can only see one result in this one. Australia in a canter.
Teams
Australia: Michael Clarke (c), George Bailey (vc), Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson, Kane Richardson, Gurinder Sandhu
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes.