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England need patience at the Rose Bowl

England captain Michael Vaughan preached the virtue of patience prior to Monday evening's Twenty20 clash with Australia at the Rose Bowl.

England captain Michael Vaughan preached the virtue of patience prior to Monday evening's Twenty20 clash with Australia at the Rose Bowl.

While the newest format of international action is viewed as crash-bang-wallop, Vaughan - yet to play in a 20-over match - has dissuaded his men from rushing things.

Three of the party considered one-day specialists - assistant coach Matthew Maynard, Vikram Solanki and Jon Lewis - have also imparted their wisdom on the 14-man squad while coach Duncan Fletcher insisted "it is not a boundary-a-ball game".

Vaughan, who led England to a crushing 153-run one-day win over Hampshire on the same ground on Saturday by way of warm-up, said: "The one thing we have learnt is that it is still quite a long game.

"There are a lot of balls and quite a long time out in the middle, batting orders may change a little but the basic tactics are pretty similar to the longer format of the game.

"The first six overs are very similar to the first 15 of a 50-over game, especially on a wicket like here with the new ball which will doubtless do a bit. So you have to be quite watchful in the early overs.

"Overall, we will enjoy ourselves because you can express yourself a bit more and it is a game against Australia so we will try to win and play some good cricket in doing so."

Twenty20 was designed to engage a new audience and the athleticism required suggests it is a young man's game.

Nevertheless, Australia could feasibly field a side made entirely of players over the age of 30 and might well do if youngster Michael Clarke's entire luggage, including all his bats, pads and attire, do not reappear, having been stolen in Leicester at the weekend.

That is a temporary problem for the tourists but a more permanent one is starting to develop with so many of their outstanding players coming to the end of their careers at once, forcing the management to stagger retirements.

However, ahead of their first meeting with England, coach John Buchanan said: "Everybody has got an idea of the future and succession, planning over a period of time.

"That process has been going on for two or three yeas now and will continue, none of us want to see the exit of five or six players all at one time.

"That has been managed well so far and hopefully that will continue to be."

Matthew Hayden's decline last year, which saw him axed from the first-choice one-day XI, might have proved an obvious watershed but the burly left-hander has landed here in top gear, spanking a hundred in the resounding win over Leicestershire.

"He has played beautifully so far," admitted captain Ricky Ponting. "I sensed back at the start of the New Zealand tour that the Matthew Hayden of old was coming back and the way he has played here would certainly indicate that.

"He is very hungry and focused at the moment and wants to have a very good tour of England.

"By his own admission he probably did not have a good tour last time so he will, as some of us are, be hoping it is good on a personal as well as team basis."

Australia began that tour of New Zealand with victory in the inaugural international Twenty20 and Ponting is keen for a similar springboard here.

"We took that game seriously, it was one we wanted to win to start the tour off on a good note and this will be exactly the same," he said.

"I think this game is good to attract different people to the game and is perfect for the start of a tour."

England will have a fully-fit squad to select from with fast bowlers Steve Harmison (ankle) and Simon Jones (knee) sufficiently recovered from niggles.

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