Batting concerns remain for Strauss

England captain Andrew Strauss is concerned his side's one-day batting struggles will become cancerous following confirmation of NatWest Series defeat to Australia.

Strauss' team were bowled out for just 220 and comfortably defeated by Australia at Lord's, by seven wickets and with 38 balls unused, to go 4-0 down.

"The cancer, the thing that you really want to avoid, is getting more and more negative and more and more hesitant because that is not going to get you anywhere," warned Strauss, following an 11th one-day defeat to Australia in 14 contests. "Ultimately it is about putting yourself in the game situation and doing what is right for the team. We haven't done that well enough so far."

He added: "A few of the guys are low on confidence at the moment and one-day cricket is not a game in which you can scratch around for too long.

"You have to play in a positive fashion. We have had some telling partnerships but no telling scores, so the batting group has to be better, simple as that."

England's form appears to be regressing rapidly, which is a concern given that the Champions Trophy begins in 10 days in South Africa.

"When one side gets on top and one lacks in confidence that can happen," said Strauss.

"There are three more games to try to build some momentum towards the Champions Trophy.

"The batsmen at some stage will come right - I have a lot of confidence in the batsmen we have got - hopefully sooner rather than later.

"In one-day cricket hundreds are the difference between getting a total which is very hard to chase and one that's attainable. We haven't done that as well as we should have done."