England win toss, bat v Oz

Birmingham - England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in their Champions Trophy Group A opener at Edgbaston on Saturday.

England made one change from the side that beat New Zealand by 34 runs in the third and final one-day international at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, with James Anderson, rested in midweek, replacing fellow paceman Steven Finn.

England were without Graeme Swann, their premier off-spinner, after he suffered back spasms, with fellow spinner James Tredwell - who played on Wednesday - retaining his place.

Australia, winners of the last two editions of the Champions Trophy, retained the same side that were bowled out for just 65 during a 243-run warm-up defeat against India in Cardiff on Tuesday.

They remained without captain Michael Clarke, still sidelined with a recurrence of a longstanding back injury.

Twenty20 skipper George Bailey continued to lead the team in Clarke's absence.

This was the first match in a Group A also including New Zealand and Sri Lanka, who meet in Cardiff on Sunday.

In Group B, India have already beaten South Africa and West Indies have defeated Pakistan.

The top two teams from each group will go through to the semi-finals, with the final at Edgbaston on June 23.

Saturday's match was the first of at least 26 Anglo-Australian clashes across all cricket formats between now and February 2 next year.

This schedule encompasses Ashes Test series in both countries, starting with next month's first Test at Nottingham's Trent Bridge ground in the English Midlands.

Teams

England:

Alastair Cook (captain), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, James Tredwell, James Anderson

Australia:

David Warner, Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, George Bailey (captain), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wkt), James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Marais Erasmus (RSA)

TV umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL)

Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)