Watch 5th ODI of Australia and England Live streaming online from Nottingham on 15th Sep 2009 at 13:30 GMT.
Australia already won this series by 4-0 against England. England already lost four continous matches.
Michael Hussey does not believe Australia’s “working class” cricketers can be considered the best one-day side in the world, despite moving within two ratings points of the top-ranked South Africans in the ICC standings. Having won eight of their last nine matches against Pakistan, Scotland and England, the Australians could reclaim the No. 1 ODI ranking with victories in the double-header at Trent Bridge and the series finale at Chester-le-Street; results that would seal an unprecedented 7-0 series sweep over Andrew Strauss’s men.
Australia and England began the current ODI series ranked third and fourth respectively on the ICC table, but four consecutive victories to the tourists have changed the landscape dramatically. Ricky Ponting’s side moved into a tie for second-place with India as of Sunday, while England plummeted to seventh behind Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Short of a dramatic turnaround in the final three matches in Nottingham and Durham, it is difficult to see England figuring at the Champions Trophy.
For Australia, reclamation of the No. 1 ODI ranking will not erase the bitter memories of a tour that has witnessed a calamitous World Twenty20 campaign and an Ashes series defeat, but it will imbue a sense of confidence in the younger members of the squad. Hussey considers himself a generational bridge between those players and the galacticos that won the past three consecutive World Cups, and is hopeful Australia’s current side can continue the winning ways, if not the sheer dominance, of their forebears.
