England will look to continue their resurgence ahead of the ICC Cricket world cup when they face Australia for the second time in the Carlton Mid Tri-Series. After being soundly beaten by their hosts in the first ODI of the series, England blew away India just when some looked to write them off ahead of schedule.

Steven Finn and James Anderson blew away the Indian batsmen before Ian Bell and James Taylor combined in a 131-run partnership to seal victory for their country.

Bell, promoted to open England’s batting in the series thus far, has been relishing his position in the order after being given the backing of captain Eoin Morgan, 

"When I spoke to Morgs when we got out here and he said 'I want you to open', that was a massive confidence boost for me," Bell said. 

"Looking back, certainly in my time playing one-day cricket for England, my most successful time has been opening the batting. It was nice to start this tour how I wanted to.

"Opening the batting, those first 10 overs definitely suits my game, certainly in these conditions where there's more bounce, you can play off the back foot, front foot, hit over the fielders in that first 10. It suits my game well and I've tried to work hard."

Bell scored 88 in casting aside India, but suffered a golden duck against Australia, being adjudged LBW to the in-form Mitchell Starc’s first ball. Australia’s strength in the opening powerplay pushed England onto the back foot last week, and it’s the opening exchanges Bell is targeting to push England harder.

"It was frustrating because you want to start the series well,” he said. 

“The important thing for all of us was we wanted to play well against Australia. Credit to Australia those first 10 overs were world-class and we have to start well in this game. It would be nice to do it against Australia tomorrow and then kick off from there. 

“I think as a group we're all excited with the challenges we have over the next 12 to 18 months.

"There are some amazing opportunities to win some big series and big trophies. That's where you want to be as an England cricketer. To leave someone like Halesy out, in a way it shows we're in a good place as a squad. We've got 15 guys here who could easily get into that XI." 

Australia will be anything but settled going into the match, from a playing perspective at least, resting David Warner and George Bailey and bringing in Shaun Marsh and Moises Henriques to the squad. 

With Warner disappearing briefly under a cloud following the fallout of his sledging of Rohit Sharma, Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin added that their competitiveness on the field is healthy, and shared within the confines of the game.

"We have a clear message of where it's all at," he said.

"We know the brand of cricket we want to play and Davey's no different to all of us. We're out there to compete.

“The umpires are there to do their job and they'll adjudicate on anything they see that's unfit and not in the spirit of the game.

"Every Australian team I've played in respects the game of cricket and respects the opposition. We're pretty comfortable with the way we're playing."

 

Trent Bridge hosts the fourth Royal London One-Day International between England and New Zealand on Wednesday 17 June. Don't miss the chance to take in what promises to be an absorbing contest and secure your seat now.