Strauss promises England will go one day at a time

It seemed world champions Australia were about to inflict fresh one-day misery on England as the hosts, chasing 268 for victory under the Rose Bowl floodlights here on Tuesday, slumped to 97 for four.

But a superb 103 not out from left-hander Eoin Morgan, a Middlesex colleague of Strauss, turned the tide and saw England to a four-wicket win in the opening fixture of a five-match series.

Last year Australia, after losing the Ashes, thrashed England 6-1 on English soil in a one-day series and followed that up with a nine-wicket semi-final win en route to lifting the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

A cautious Strauss was reluctant to compare the current England one-day side with the lacklustre outfit of a year ago, telling reporters at the Rose Bowl: ‘I’d prefer to answer that after five games, not one.

‘We’ve done a lot of things right in this game. The bowlers did a good job to restrict them to 267, and I think at the half-way mark we were in front.

‘But it’s just one game of cricket - and Australia being Australia, they will come back hard at us for these remaining games.

‘Let’s not pat ourselves on the back too much at this stage.’

Certainly the growing influence of former Ireland batsman Morgan, a member of the England side that beat Australia in last month’s World Twenty20 final in Barbados, has been a boon to his adopted country.

But Australia captain Ricky Ponting insisted he detected no change in England’s attitude to the one-day game.

‘Maybe they are getting a few more results now,’ Ponting said. ‘That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s been a change in attitude, it might just mean they are actually playing better and executing their skills when they need to.

‘I thought this (Tuesday’s match) was a pretty even contest, for the majority of the game it was right in the balance.’

The second match of the series takes place in Cardiff on Thursday where England’s final-wicket pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar somehow clung on for a draw in the first Test against Australia.

It was a result that proved to be significant with England going on to regain the Ashes 2-1 in a five-match campaign.

But the tailenders’ heroics were marred slightly by various England time-wasting tactics, including sending on the 12^th man and the physiotherapist when neither batsman appeared to be suffering any sort of injury at all.

Ponting, asked what he thought about returning to Sophia Gardens, jokingly said: ‘Is the 12^th man going to come on again or something?

‘I haven’t thought about the Test match, we are here to play a one-dayer. ‘But looking at the Test, we’ll probably have a bit of an idea about the wicket might be like, a bit slower and less bounce than this one out here (at the Rose Bowl).

‘We’re 1-0 down with four games to go,’ Ponting added. ‘We’ve got to make sure we are in the best shape we can be physically and mentally for the next challenge we’ve got.’