Shane Watson and Cameron White stars as Australia against England

Shane Watson took three wickets as Australia held England to 228 for nine in the third one-day international at the Rose Bowl here on Wednesday.and Cameron White scored his maiden international hundred 105(124).

All-rounder Watson and Cameron White, on the ground where he played for Hampshire, Watson took three wickets for 36 runs in eight overs as Australia looked to go 3-0 up in the seven-match series.

Strauss won his third straight toss but this time decided to bat first rather than field in a match where both sides were unchanged from the teams that played in world champions Australia's 39-run win at Lord's on Sunday.

In the third over, left-handed opener Strauss struck three consecutive fours off in-form fast bowler Brett Lee, a pull and a drive through extra-cover followed by a square cut.

Ravi Bopara followed up by going down the pitch to drive Nathan Bracken for six. But, trying to repeat the stroke, Bopara holed out off the left-arm seamer with James Hopes, running back at mid-on, taking a well-judged catch.

And six balls later 41 for one became 41 for two when Matt Prior was out for a suck when his pull of left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson's fourth ball was held by a diving hopes at square leg.

Johnson then struck again when Owais Shah was lbw although replays suggested the ball may have been missing off-stump.

But England were now 62 for three in the 15th over.

Strauss, who completed a 60-ball fifty with six fours, fell next when he chipped off-spinner Nathan Hauritz low to Michael Clarke at mid-wicket.

Paul Collingwood struggled during an innings of 28 off 52 balls that didn't feature a single boundary and was dismissed in tame fashion when he holed out off medium-pacer Watson to leave England 132 for five in the 32nd over.

Once more, England didn't take their five-over batting power play until late in the innings, when they managed just 24 runs for the loss of two wickets.

Sachin's idea for save one-day cricket

Brad Haddin Ruled Out Of Champions Trophy

Australian wicket-keeper Brad Haddin has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy despite undergoing corrective surgery on a fractured finger earlier this week.

Although the surgery on his left ring finger was successful his recovery will not be complete until after the tournament and Cricket Australia (CA) have requested that Tim Paine be allowed to replace Haddin in their 15-man squad, a request which the ICC have granted.

The tournament gets underway on 22nd September and defending champions Australia meet India, Pakistan and the West Indies in Group A.

In a statement, CA Doctor Trefor James explained:

“After discussion with Brad’s surgeon and the Cricket Australia medical staff, it is clear Brad will not have recovered sufficiently for him to be considered for any part of the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

“While the surgery was a success and there have been no complications, the timeframe for recovery is not sufficient and therefore he can not be considered for selection.”

Haddin himself added:

“While it is extremely disappointing to miss the ICC Champions Trophy, the good news is that the surgery was successful and my finger will be 100% when the recovery period is finalised.

“I am aiming to be available for selection for the one-day series in India however this is a decision that will be made in consultation with the Cricket Australia medical staff when the time arises.

“In the past I have been able to recover from finger injuries and surgery very quickly and I am hopeful this will again be the case."

Tendulkar proposes new format for One-day cricket

With the increasing popularity of Twenty 20 cricket, there is serious concern over the existence of test and one day cricket which are of comparatively longer duration than the T20 cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar, while addressing media in Mumbai said, “I think we should have 25 overs a side to start with and again you go and play 25 overs once the first inning of the opponent team is over”.

He was attending a bat endorsement function for Adidas in his hometown Mumbai. Now this batting maestro is well set to play with the Adidas logo in place of MRF logo which was there on his bat for a long time.

He also said that this idea struck his mind during the 2002 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. Tendulkar described, “We ended up playing 110 overs against Lankans in the final match. First Sri Lanka played their quota of 50 overs and India played 10 overs before the rain interruption. The very next day, the Lankan team again played for 50 overs and Indian team played for just 10 overs and then the rain interrupted the game again. So finally we all played more than 100 overs with no results in hand.”

The Mumbaikar also find the idea interesting because he thinks that this split of 25 overs each for two innings would negate the luck factor and the tosses would also become less crucial.

The batsman, who is the leading scorer in the one- day international game with the maximum number of centuries urged the administrators citing the reason that the result of 75 percent of the matches is evident just after the toss. But the proposed format is not dependent on the toss because for example if it is a day- night match then both the teams will have to bat under lights and so the format ensures the same conditions for each team.

This comment of Tendulkar has come at a time when several cricket boards across the world have scrapped 50 over match from its calendar. The England and Wales cricket board (ECB) dropped its domestic 50 over tournament while Cricket South Africa is planning to bring changes in their 45 over domestic competition.

Infact, the ECB is likely to propose that the International Cricket Council should conduct a formal review of the future of 50 over format after the 2011 World Cup to save its existence.

When asked about the team preparations for the Champions trophy and the season ahead, he said that the team is very well prepared now. The team has done all the planning. There is a process of heading ahead which the team will follow step by step.