England won their seventh one day international in a row, beating Australia comfortably by four wickets – the same as they did in the first match earlier in the week.

A two-nil lead in the series against Australia builds on the World Twenty20 title England won in the West Indies and they can wrap it up early with victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The perhaps surprising success of England’s limited overs side in the last year or so can be put down to picking the right players in the right positions for the right matches, something that hasn’t always been done. The selectors have at times been ruthless, leaving established Test players out in favour of young, promising players like Craig Kieswetter and Michael Yardy.

Bringing those players in alongside more experienced players like Collingwood and Pietersen has worked and England are reaping the rewards now.

There were no heroics from Eoin Morgan this time, England having to rely on a team performance with solid innings from captain Andrew Strauss (51), Pietersen (33) and Paul Collingwood (48). Morgan, however, still top scored with 52 as England successfully chased down 240 target set by Australia in Cardiff.

Special mention must go to Stuart Broad who took 4 wickets for 44 runs to keep Australia’s total down on his 24th birthday. When taking Tim Paine’s wicket he became the youngest bowler to take 100 ODI wickets. Happy birthday and congratulations to Broad!

The one downside on the day was the failure of Kieswetter with the bat, scoring just 8 runs. If he wants to keep Matt Prior out of the side he will need to do better. Fortunately for him the selectors aren’t as inclined to chop and change on a match to match basis for reasons of form and he will remain in the side for the next game.

Watching England play cricket is a joy at the moment and long may it continue – especially into the Ashes Series Down Under this winter…