Australia out to increase England angst

Scotland may have done Australia a favour by knocking over England in Sunday's historic ODI win and Tim Paine's men will look to increase the angst come Wednesday's opening match between the Ashes foes. 

England's bowling attack minus allrounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes conceded 5-371 with only one batter going at less than a run-a-ball. In reply, England were able to muster 365 all out, with Jonny Baristow blitzing a whirlwind 59-ball knock of 105. 

Aussie spinner Ashton Agar said the defeat underlined how important Stokes and Woakes were to England's one-day side.

"They are a couple of strong all-round players that we are not unhappy not to be seeing," Agar said of the injured pair, who may yet return for the back part of the five-match series with the Aussies.

"But although they didn't get the job done, England are a really dangerous side.

"You can't ever take a side like that lightly and we have to be on our A-game."

The Edinburgh wicket was batsmen-friendly and the boundaries short, which aided the high scores. Australia have posted scores of 9-277 and 6-283 in their two warm-up matches against county opposition on this tour, and Agar played down fears about the visitors' ability to compete with England's high-powered batting unit.

"It's been good to spend some quality time out in the middle and try and solidify a game plan," Agar said.

"We've seen Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis both get hundreds and if we are getting hundreds then hopefully we are winning games.

"It was good for us that England lost that game, good for Scotland as a cricketing nation and a country.

"You could see how much it meant to them; it was good to watch.

"It's good (for Australia) that England lost because (a team would) always like to start off with a win."

Agar said Australia's winning start to the tour, having comfortably beaten both Sussex and Middlesex, had enhanced the buzz about a group that welcomed Ricky Ponting to the coaching ranks. 

"Everyone is saying it's a new era for Australian cricket and you can look at it that way but we have a nice refreshed feeling in the group," Agar said. 

"We've prepared nicely with our last practice games with a couple of wins under our belts. We've got nice momentum and hope to bring that out on the park.

"(The team dynamic has) changed a little bit, you've got a couple of really good players who aren't in the mix at the moment. Having said that we have a really versatile squad. 

"An injection of youth so there is a lot of energy and players who are really believing in themselves."

Ponting, with 13,378 Test runs and another 13,704 in one-day cricket to his name, stayed late in the nets to deliver throw-downs to D'Arcy Short after the main training session had finished, fine-tuning the Hobart Hurricanes opener's batting after scores of 18 and 21 in the warm-up games. 

"It's awesome (having Ponting around)," said Agar. "You've got Justin Langer as a coach and Ricky Ponting around as well. It's a pretty scary combination and we're really proud to have them here. 

"It's an absolute privilege for us. Two legends of Australian cricket with the wealth of knowledge they have. 

"Punter, everyone just wants to hear him speak, and it's the same with JL. Everyone just wants to listen to them talk and we can't get enough of them."

Australia's first ODI against England is at The Oval on Wednesday, and will be broadcast live on GEM from 9.30pm AEST.

Qantas tours of England and Zimbabwe

ODI squad: Tim Paine (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (injured), David Willey, Chris Woakes (injured), Mark Wood

T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

Qantas Tour of England

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

June 9: Australia beat Middlesex by 101 runs at Lord's

June 13: First ODI, The Oval (D/N)

June 16: Second ODI, Cardiff

June 19: Third ODI, Trent Bridge (D/N)

June 21: Fourth ODI, Durham (D/N)

June 24: Fifth ODI, Old Trafford

June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)

Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe

July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 2: Pakistan vs Australia

July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 5: Pakistan vs Australia

July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 8: Final