Can England Stop the rot?

The series is in the bag for Australia after a crushing seven-wicket victory at Lord's. Now they have their eyes on a whitewash, while England are left trying to save face and build a modicum of momentum ahead of the Champions Trophy. The teams now square up in the first of two day-night clashes at Trent Bridge as England's longest international season at home reaches its final week.

Throughout this series the atmosphere at the matches has been flat, not helped by a combination of England playing poor cricket and the come-down after an intense Ashes campaign. However, there was one passage of play at Lord's on Saturday that rose above the mediocrity as Brett Lee produced a thunderous display of pace bowling to blow away the lower order.

Lee, for one, has made the most of these one-day matches after missing the Ashes series and his 5 for 49 made a strong point about his form and fitness. While some players are longing for a break, Lee is desperate to keep going having faced a year on the sidelines.

England need someone to produce an inspirational performance to match Lee's, but it is difficult to see where it will come from. Apart from Andrew Strauss, the batsmen have suffered a collective loss of confidence and the bowlers haven't looked like blowing Australia away either.

The pressure is growing on Owais Shah, who is one of the most experienced players remaining in the England line-up. Strauss needs someone to take the pressure off him and, after 64 ODIs, Shah should be taking control in the middle of the innings. However, he has struggled for form and appears low on confidence at the crease while finding a myriad of ways to be dismissed. Already he has trodden on his stumps and been involved in another run out. He wasn't happy at the full toss he pulled to midwicket at Lord's, standing his ground for a few moments, before being sent on his way. England want him to play a crucial role in the years to come, but Shah has to justify his place first.

Our very own Woodworm sponsored player Graham Onions could be in line to make his ODI day debut as England try to freshen up a very tired looking side and add some much needed potency to a flagging attack which has struggled to get wickets and tame the Australian batters.