Australian Eyes Done Historic 7-0 Sweep Over England

Durham: With an historic 7-0 whitewash of their one-day series against England firmly within their grasp, Australia's cricketers head to Durham.

No team has ever swept a seven-match series, but Tim Paine, the stand-in wicketkeeper-batsman whose maiden international century led Australia to a 111-run victory and a 6-0 lead at Trent Bridge on Thursday, has played down the importance of the word whitewash.

"We'll be talking about the seventh game and how we're going to go about winning it," Paine said.

The Australians have completely outclassed England all series and the home side have just one more chance to salvage a bit of pride.

England captain Andrew Strauss is barely able to contain his frustration following his team's latest defeat.

"Sitting around in a team room having a chat about it is not going to solve anything. What is going to solve it is a couple of guys standing up and showing the necessary character to go out and turn things around,” Fox Sports quoted Strauss, as saying.

Team news

England: They are tied to this squad because these are the players selected for the Champions Trophy, but one by one they are all losing confidence. Collingwood is back after his break so he could replace one of those in the middle order, while Graham Onions is surely due his ODI debut.

Squad (likely): Andrew Strauss (capt), Joe Denly, Matt Prior (wk), Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, James Anderson, Graham Onions.

Australia: Ponting has said that Australia are likely to field their strongest side for this final match after resting players under the rotation system.

Squad (likely): Shane Watson, Tim Paine (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson, Michael Hussey/James Hopes, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Nathan Bracken.

Pitch and conditions
The series finishes at the northern-most first-class ground in England, which is a risk in mid-September but the forecast suggests a fine day. The Chester-le-Street pitch has produced some high-scoring one-day games this season and batsman can score quickly once they get set.

Stats and trivia

• If Australia won then create history first team win seven match series by 7-0. Last year England tour of India, they behind 5-0, but last two game cancelled.
• These two teams have met in one previous ODI at Chester-le-Street, in 2005, when Australia won by 57 runs. Shane Watson was spooked by the ghosts of Lumley Castle, and Darren Gough didn't let him forget.
• The top five wicket-takers in the series are Australian, before James Anderson sneaks in at No. 6 with six wickets.
• Ponting requires 37 runs to usurp Inzamam-ul-Haq as the third highest all-time run-scorer in ODIs.

Match facts
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Start time 10.15 (9.15 GMT)

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