England on verge of historic whitewash

England say the prospect of their first 5-0 series whitewash over a major nation is not a motivating factor heading into Sunday's fifth and final ODI against Australia.

An under-manned Australian side is one more defeat away from what would be just their second 0-5 series defeat ever, and their second in less than two years, after the hosts cruised to a six-wicket win in Durham on Thursday.

Australia lost all five matches on their tour of South Africa in late 2016, which was just their fourth winless ODI series ever and the first where they had lost all five matches.

England are warm favourites to complete a sweep of their own at Old Trafford on Sunday, which would be their first 5-0 series win since they thumped Zimbabwe by that scoreline in 2001.

But skipper Eoin Morgan says his focus is on simply building on their near flawless preparations to next year's World Cup on home soil.

"I think 5-0 doesn't really make a difference in the grand scheme of things," he said. "It's another opportunity to put in a really strong performance. 

"I think Manchester will be completely different conditions to any of the grounds that we’ve played at, but I think we’re in a really good position to allow ourselves to adapt so on the day we’re going to have to play well."

Only Birmingham's dreary weather stood in England's way in their 2012 series against the Aussies, which they won 4-0 after the third match at Edgbaston was washed out without a ball being bowled.

Australia have only ever gone winless in a bilateral series four times in their decorated one-day history; a 0-3 loss in England in 1997, a 0-3 defeat in New Zealand in 2007 - just months before their third consecutive World Cup triumph - and those losses in England in 2012 and against the Proteas two years ago.

They have won 15 bilateral series consisting of three matches or more in a whitewash, including four 5-0 wins.

England have achieved 14 series sweeps in their history, but their 5-0 win in Zimbabwe 17 years ago is their only one by that scoreline.

A loss at Old Trafford would also mean Australia finish the series ranked sixth in the world, their lowest ranking in 34 years, while a win would move them back up to fifth.

Opener Aaron Finch conceded the young Australian side has been thoroughly outplayed in all four games so far.

"The mood after you lose a game anytime is always down," he said.

"The bowlers are still learning, they're young and inexperienced attack but the last couple of games we've been making the same mistakes, so that's something that we need to look at.

"It just feels like we're always chasing the game at the moment. It's tough for them, no doubt, two days after what happened at Trent Bridge, but there's nowhere to hide in this game, we're playing against the best in the world.

"The learnings will be valuable, whether they're good or not, that's hard to say. But they'll definitely be valuable going forward."

Qantas tours of the UK and Zimbabwe

Australia 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, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Craig Overton, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Mark Wood

Australia 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

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey

Qantas Tour of the UK

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

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

June 13: England won by three wickets at The Oval

June 16: England won by 38 runs in Cardiff

June 19: England won by 242 runs at Trent Bridge

June 21: England won by six wickets in Durham

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