Buchanan lines up one-day targets

John Buchanan wants Australia to establish superiority over England's new players Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff in the two one-day tournaments before the Ashes series. The three huge talents, who have helped push England to the No. 2 ranking, have never faced the world champions in a Test and will be targets as Australia seek their ninth consecutive win.

"We want to create some momentum and establish some sort of superiority at that time," Buchanan told The Age. "The one-day series give us the opportunity to pit our skills against theirs, and then we would hope that in playing pretty well, we would assert ourselves and provide some sort of statement about the rest of the tour." Australia's first match of the NatWest Series, which also includes Bangladesh, is on June 18 and the three-game NatWest Challenge begins on July 7.

The Australians, who have a handful of spies playing in the counties, believe they have found weaknesses in the batting of Strauss, who was named England's Player of the Year after his stunning Test breakthrough. Strauss has already attracted the attention of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who took his wicket in a county match.

"We think he can play across his crease early, and therefore a swinging ball is an early option to him," Buchanan told the paper. "He generally knows where his off stump is, but like all left-handers, he's susceptible around that corridor area. He enjoys width, and can play spin well, but is probably limited in his shot range against spin."