White magic excites Ponting

London:

Cameron White's form with the bat has helped leave returning Australia captain Ricky Ponting in good spirits ahead of Saturday's fourth one-day international against England here at Lord's.

Victory at the 'home of cricket' would give Australia an unbeatable 4-0 lead in the seven-match series.

While regular number three Ponting has been taking a break after the Ashes defeat, White, his stand-in at first wicket down, has helped Australia go 3-0 up with 200 runs in three innings, including a maiden ODI century at the Rose Bowl during Wednesday's six-wicket success.

"I might have to take someone down at training to get myself back into the side," joked Ponting at Lord's here on Friday.

"Cameron's played really well. I've been impressed with how he's played in all three innings.

"He's been in and around the side for a few years and been waiting for an opportunity to bat a little bit higher up the order.

"I think he showed us all over the last couple of weeks he's more than capable of batting anywhere in the order - and that's a real 'positive' for us and makes selections for tomorrow's (Saturday's) game a little more difficult."

But whatever happens in the remainder of the one-day series, Ponting said it would not make-up for last month's Ashes defeat.

"I don't think it's any compensation. There are some guys in this squad who aren't in the Test team so it probably doesn't mean a lot to them.

"There are some guys who were in the Test side who aren't here at the moment so they're not going to get much compensation back if we do win this one-day series," he added.

A refreshed Ponting added: "I feel terrific; I've had a few good sleeps over the last couple of nights, so I'll be up early and ready to go in the game."

England's struggles in the one-day format are nothing new, with the team having faltered in limited overs cricket since reaching the last of their three World Cup finals in 1992.

"We haven't had a good one-day side since 1992," said England coach Andy Flower. "So we have got to do something about it and that is part of my job.

"Yes, we have plans and theories on how to play one-day cricket - they aren't working at the moment, certainly on the batting side of things."

England's top order have collectively failed to put enough runs on the board in the first three matches of a series where Kent opener Joe Denly could feature for the first time on Saturday after injuring his knee during a football warm-up clash with Owais Shah last week.

"It would be fair to say we haven't got the balance between attack and defence right," said Flower. "That is one of the basics of batting.

"I don't think the guys have shown the necessary composure and that balance to structure an innings."