Ashes Rivals Defend ODI Series

London: England captain Alastair Cook has defended his side's five-match one-day series against Australia, which gets under way at Lord's on Friday.

Ex-England captain Alec Stewart said he would rather see England play an extra Test against South Africa this summer.

The five-match series falls between tours by West Indies and South Africa, with Australia visiting their Ashes rivals solely for the one-day contest.

Australia return to England next year for the Ashes, and this will be Cook's first chance to face up-and-coming bowlers Pat Cummins and James Pattinson.

Australia, who are ranked number one in the world in the limited-overs format, drew their last ODI series 2-2 in the West Indies in March, shortly after losing five of their 11 games en route to winning their triangular series with Sri Lanka and India.

Teams from

England: Alastair Cook (capt), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott

Australia: Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Shane Watson

Pitch and conditions
The forecast is not wonderful, with a 60% chance of rain and a noticeable drop in temperature anticipated. But Lord's is remarkably fast draining and looks as immaculate as ever. The pitch is expected to be good, though totals of 300 or more have been achieved only four times in 52 ODIs on the ground.

Stats and trivia

• If England win the series 5-0, they will move to the top of the ODI rankings. That would make them the first team to top the rankings in all three formats of the game.
• England have won their last six ODIs and their last six home ODI series. The last two sides to tour England - India and West Indies - failed to win an international match on the trip.
• The last time these two sides played an ODI series, however, following the 2010-11 Ashes, Australia won 6-1.

Match facts
Friday June 29, 2012
Start time 1045 local (0945 GMT)