Australia v England, first ODI, Melbourne 5:03pm: Shane Watson comes in for his fifth over. FOUR: It's in the air. Finally Gary Ballance opens the shoulder and sweeps this backward of square for FOUR. He goes for an on-drive but he mistimes it and only manages a single. Good over for England. 8 off it. They're 5-198 after 42. 4:59pm: Clint McKay is back into the attack. He only has 3 overs left so it will be interesting to see who bowls at the death if McKay gets his ten bowled early. It's looking less likely that England will be able to get to 270. It's understandable that Gary Ballance wants to solidify his spot in the team but singles are not going to be enough here. England 5-189 after 41. Nathan Coulter-Nile still has 2 to bowl. Faulkner 4 and Doherty 3. 4:55pm: FOUR: About time! Ben Stokes pulls Nathan Coulter-Nile square for FOUR. Stokes goes for it again but can't get it in the middle and managers just a single. Gary Ballance still reluctant to play any big shots. 6 off it. England 5-183 after 40. England went 1-24 off those five overs of the batting powerplay. It's fair to say Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Faulkner won that battle. 4:54pm: James Faulkner continues. This has been very poor use of the powerplay by England. Just 4 off that over. There's one more left in the powerplay. With Australia's fielding restrictions, England have only managed 18 runs off the past four overs. England 5-177 after 39. Nathan Coulter-Nile drops it in short. Ravi Bopara goes for the late cut again but the ball come up on him and he glances off his glove to Brad Haddin for an easy catch. The umpire had no hesistation. Ravi Bopara goes for 17 of 21. England are 5-173 after 38. Ben Stokes comes to the crease ahead of Jos Buttler. 4:46pm: One of these batsman needs to open the shoulders. Ravi Bopara is 12 off 18. Gary Ballance is 52 off 74. Nathan Coulter-Nile continues. FOUR: A nice late cut there from Bopara who trickles it down to just beat third man for FOUR. If he's not going to swing, they need more of that from him. 4:42pm: James Faulkner replaces Doherty at the other end. England continue to waste the powerplay with no boundary in that over. 6 off it courtesy of a misfield by Australia resulting in 1 overthrow. England 4-166 after 37. Nathan Coulter-Nile is back into the attack. For the five overs, Australia can only have three fielders outside the ring. EDGE: Ravi Bopara chops one back onto his feet. Lucky that didn't go on to his stumps. Bad use of the powerplay there by England. Just 2 off it. They are 4-160 after 36. 4:31pm: FIFTY: Gary Ballance brings up his 50 with a single off Maxwell through the covers. That's his first ODI 50. Very well played. He's looked very composed at the crease and has read the spin well. England 4-157 after 34. In the same over he brings up his 50, he is gone! Glenn Maxwell tosses it up to entice the big drive. Eoin Morgan goes for it and it pops straight up to Nathan Coulter-Nile in the covers for an easy catch. Morgan departs for a well consructed 50 off 47 balls. That was the breakthrough Australia neded. Ravi Bopara has come to the crease. England 4-147 after 32. 4:13pm: Glenn Maxwell is back into the attack. He's going to try and slow things down. This can be dangeous because he is probably the easiest bowler in the Australian lineup to hit. Gary Ballance does the slog-sweep but theres a man out there for it. Just 4 off it. England 3-136 after 30. 4:12pm: Clint McKay back into the attack. We need a wicket and he's been Australia's best bowler so far. Bowling right arm around the wicket to the left handers. CLOSE: Ballance drops and runs. Run out opportunity but the fielder needed a direct hit. Morgan would have been out. EGDE: Morgan chops one on and it just misses his leg stump and trickles down to fine leg for FOUR. England 3-132 off 29. 4:08pm: Australia has been quite sharp in the field. They've forced the English to really scamper through on a few occasions. There haven't been any genuine run out chances yet but the lively fielding has Gary Ballance a little hesistant on a few quick singles. FOUR: Ballance stays in his crease and just swings against a full delivery from Shane Watson. The ball is in the air for a long time and just gets over the long-on boundary. FOUR: Much better shot from Ballance this time. Cuts the wide delivery for consecutive boundarries. Rushes to 39 off 53. Engand 3-124 after 28. 4:01pm: FOUR: Eoin Morgan dances down the pitch to James Faulkner and drives it over mid-off for four. Lovely shot. Morgan is batting with much more confidence than we have seen from him in the Big Bash League. You can't bowl that full delivery just outside off-stump to him. He moves to 32 of 31. England 3-114 after 27. 4:00pm: Shane Watson continues. He's getting them through around the 130km/h range. With his injury scares during the Test series, it's hard to see him bowling out 10 overs though. 5 off it. England 3-107 after 26. 3:52pm: The pitch has looked quite fair for both teams. The ball isn't doing a lot but Clint McKay got the odd one to nip back in. England are 3-97 after 24 overs. A good score on this pitch is about 270. If these two are still at the crease in 10 overs time, we could see some fireworks from England's deep batting order. 3:47pm: Gary Ballance and Eoin Morgan are looking very settled at the crease. Xavier Doherty is much less effective against these two left-handers compared to when he bowls to right handers. It could be worth getting Watson into the attack or maybe get two or three overs by one of the strike bowlers. 3:44pm: SIX: Stand and deliver! Eoin Morgan just lofts Doherty down the ground for SIX. That was right out of the middle for Morgan with minimal footwork. 9 off it. England 3-89 after 22. Morgan is 17 off 14. He is one of the big hitters capable of turning this game on its head with just a few overs. 3:37pm: Bowling change. James Faulkner replaces Glenn Maxwell. Faulkner right on the money first up. Bowling left arm over the wicket, Faulkner is cutting the ball into the left handers at the crease. It's very difficult to push him onto the legside. Faulkner just needs to keep his line outside of offstump. Morgan drops and runs off the last delivery. 5 off Faulkner's first over. England 3-78 after 21. 3:33pm: FOUR: Eoin Morgan smashes Maxwell through cover. Cracking shot. Maxwell has been darting them in a bit shorter than Doherty. He's not getting much flight. England 3-69 after 19. 3:27pm: Xavier Doherty continies. Calls for a catch: Bell reverse sweeps it but the ball fells short of sort fine leg. WICKET: Doherty tosses up to Bell who goes to sweep it. Ball goes under the bat. Thuds into the off stump! Bell was looking great but he goes for 41. Eoin Morgan coming to the crease. England 3-62 after 17.3 overs. 3:24pm: More Glen Maxwell. Lazy appeal. Looked decent actually. Straightens onto the pad of Ballance. It was sliding a touch down the leg side but that should have gotten more of an appeal from behind the stumps. Maxwell looks a bit frustrated that no one else appealed and he should. Hawk-eye says it would have slipped the leg stump. Just 3 off the over. England 2-60 after 17. 3:22pm: Xavier Doherty continues. He's bowling a nice tight line and the English batsman need to make their own pace. Doherty is tempting them to drive and doing his own fielding. Just 1 off the over. England 2-58 after 16. Aaron Finch can also bowl a few offies if Clarke wants any additional overs from his spinners. 3:19pm: Australian crusing through the over rate with these two on. SIX: Ian Bell sweeps Maxwell's full length delivery straight over mid-wicket for six to take him to 38. 10 off it. England 2-57 after 15. It could be time to bring James Faulkner on soon. 3:15pm: Doherty to Bell. Four: A nice reverse sweep but by Ian Bell and beats third man. Besides that ball, tidy stuff from Doherty. England 2-47 after 14. 3:14pm: Glenn Maxwell continues. The surface is looking quite dry and the ball is not coming on at all for the English. Maxwell darts one in just wide of off stump. Bell tries to but misses. Bell pulls one to deep mid-wicket. David Warner flies though the outfield to save the boundary. England 2-42 after 13. 3:08pm: Spin from both ends now. Xavier Doherty into the attack. Doherty getting more grip off the pitch than Maxwell. He bowl that full length with a bit of flight. Easily pushed down to mid-off for a single. Michael Clarke has pushed everyone to the edge of the ring. Lots of easy singles on offer. 3 off it. England 2-37 after 12. Ian Bell is looking very good. Now up to 22. 3:06pm: We have our first bowling change. Glenn Maxwell into the attack with his off-breaks. Tosses it up with his first delivery and Gary Ballance cuts through point for 3 to get off the mark. Interesting decision to by Clarke to turn to Maxwell considering how well the quicks are bowling. Maxwell is getting a little bit of turn. He's getting the nice angle to the left-hander, Ballance, by coming around the wicket. Ian Bell looks very comfortable facing Maxwell. 6 off the over. England 2-34 after 11. 3:03pm: Nathan Coulter-Nile continues. Ian Bell drives hard straight back to the bowler. Coulter-Nile is hit in the foot and the ball bounces to long-on for 2. If Coulter-Nile wasn't in the way, that would have been four. England 2-28 after 10. They need to pick up the run rate. 3:00pm: This is some fantastic bowling by Clint McKay. He's giving the English nothing and bowling very consistantly with just a touch of movement. Ian Bell tries to pull one. Call of 'catch'. It comes off the toe of his bat and bounces about 3m in front of the fielder. England 2-26 after 9. 2:57pm: It's important to note that in the one dayers, each team only get one unsuccessful review. Joe Root has used England's. He was plumb in front and the only way the decision would have been reversed was if there was an inside edge. That was a terrible review which could come to haunt England later in the game. England 2-23 after 8. 2:51pm: WICKET: Joe Root is done plumb in front with no inside edge detected by Hot Spot. Clint McKay gets another. That's his second. Joe Root departs for 3. England now 2-22 after 7. Gary Ballance has come to the crease. This is why Clint McKay was the highest ranked ODI bowler in 2013. 2:49pm: Clint McKay to continue. Joe Root is really struggling with his footwork but Ian Bell is nicely pushing the ball around the ground for singles. SHOUT: McKay swings this one back into Root. The ball hits Root on the foot but it was outside the line. Only a half-hearted appeal. SHOUT: McKay gets it to swing back in again. Hits him below the kneeroll. The umpire has given it! Joe Root calls for an umpire review. 2:44pm: Australia are very chirpy in the field and their backing it up with their fielding. David Warner with a nice dive to save a run. CLOSE: Nathan Coulter-Nile nips one back into Joe Root and it gets through the gate but it flies over the stumps. England 1-20 after 6 overs. 2:37pm: Nathan Coulter-Nile Back on. He's getting some very nice outswing which is drawing Root into the shot but missing. Coulter-Nile is getting some nice pace. Bowling 140+km/h on a nice length. Joe Root gets off the mark with a flick off the pads for a single. FOUR: Another full length delivery. Bell drives it straight back past Coulter-Nile for four. England 1-17 after 4 overs. 2:33pm: Australia with just one slip. Clint McKay with another good over. Bowled one very wide which was cut but well fielded by Michael Clarke to save four runs. England 1-9 after 3 overs. Bell: 0, Root: 4 2:25pm: Fantastic start by Clint McKay and the Australia. That was a very important wicket but we have to remember, England bat very deep with this lineup. Nathan Coulter-Nile has the ball at the other end and produces some outswing with his first delivery. Ian Bell gets off the mark. Pushes it through mid-wicket for three. England 1-8 after 2 overs. 2:24pm: WICKET: Clint McKay with another length ball. Cook blocks and edges it straight to Haddin for an easy catch. Alastair Cook gone for 4. What a great start for Australia! Terrible shot by Cook with no footwork. Joe Root now at the crease. 2:18pm: The national anthem has just be sung and the MCG is buzzing. The crowds are still coming through the turnstiles. It's always important to win the first match of the five-game series. Alastair Cook and Ian Bell are on their way to the crease now. Clint McKay will bowl the first over. He was the leading One Day bowler in the world for 2013. 2:11pm: Alastair Cook and Ian Bell will open the batting for England. Cook will be desperate to turn his form around. He has been getting some nice starts this summer and failed to convert those into big scores. He'll be very happy to see someone other than Mitchell Johnson or Ryan Harris running in. As for their bowling, Cook talked up Chris Jordan and Boyd Rankin at the toss. Having no spinner could be a concern but Cook has not hesitated to get a few overs out of Joe Root's off-breaks in the past. 2:07pm: Australia have gone for a similar team with three genuine all-rounders in Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner. Between the trio, they will need to bowl 20 overs. Clint McKay and Nathan Coulter-Nile will most likely take the new ball for the Aussies. McKay has emerged as our best One Day bowler while Coulter-Nile has impressed at domestic level but he'll need to bowl nice and tight to hold James Pattinson out of the team. Hopefully they can pick up a few early wickets. 2:02pm: England are batting exceptionally deep with this lineup. Their Ashes hero, Ben Stokes, is coming in at number 8 so it looks like they have reacted to their many collapses during the Test series. Jos Buttler will ber very dangerous down the order towards the end of the innings. He has been in nice form in the Big Bash League. Interesting decision by England not to bring Luke Wright into the squad. Wright has been playing very well for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League with both bat and ball. This is also his home ground so he'd know a little bit more about the MCG pitch than others. 1:57pm: No surprise to see Alastair Cook bat first. Michael Clarke said he would have liked to bat first as well but thinks Australia might have an edge going into the game with Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell whereas England has not named a spinner. TEAMS: Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Clint McKay and Xavier Doherty. England: Alistair Cook, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Gary Ballance, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Tim Bresnan, Chris Jordan and Boyd Rankin. 1:49pm: Alfred Chan here at blog central. The crowd is building up very nicely. These One Day International series' are always a great specticle and Melbourne is buzzing on the eve of the Australian Open with plenty of kids on school holidays around. . Aftering seeing the same XI for the entire Ashes series, a few other guys will be getting their chance to put their hands up to potentially jump on the plane to South Afica. One of those men will be James Faulkner who has been in excellent form in the Big Bash League and could be considered unlucky not to have played in any of the Tests. 1:41pm: Preamble: Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the first One Day International between Australia and England at the MCG. It's a lovely day in Melbourne with the temperature currently 22 degrees with no wind - excellent conditions for cricket. Alastair Cook has declared he and the English are playing for pride after being whitewashed in the Ashes while Australia are looking to move further up in the One Day International rankings. We're about 40 minutes from the start of the match. Alistair Cook and Michael Clarke should be out shortly for the toss.