Jason Gillespie on England's heavyweight World Cup clash with Australia

England face Australia in a mouth-watering clash at the Cricket World Cup on Monday.

Eoin Morgan's side have won four of their six matches whilst the Aussies have won five.

Sportsmail'sJason Gillespie has the lowdown on where he thinks the match will be won and lost...

England - Their belief and attitude in how they go about things. They trust what they're doing. I know they lost to Sri Lanka but from the outside there seems an unshakeable faith in their methods and desire to carry on showing real intent with the bat. And with the ball they have proper pace now in Jofra Archer and a revitalised Mark Wood, which was the one thing they lacked ahead of this tournament. They will come hard at the Aussies.

Australia - Adaptability is their greatest asset. Players come in and out, fulfil different roles and are comfortable with it. They adapt well to different game situations, too. We have seen it with David Warner. There have been times when he's scored run-a-ball hundreds and others when he has soaked up some balls, assessed conditions well and done what has been best for the team. Like England, Australia have real strength in their quick bowling — Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are up there with Archer and Wood.

England - Conversely, England's greatest strength could also be seen as a weakness if conditions are not conducive to their power game with the bat. Can they adapt to situations when they are not in their favour? We saw against Sri Lanka last Friday that they can struggle on a slower pitch and they have to show more of the adaptability that we have seen from Australia. Also — and while it's not a weakness — I do think Australia will target England's spinners.

Australia - They are still trying to find their best side, but the return of all-rounder Marcus Stoinis to fitness has definitely helped them. He's allowed them to play three seamers and the leg-spin of Adam Zampa with Glenn Maxwell's off-breaks as back-up. It will be interesting to see if they consider Nathan Lyon for this match, instead of Zampa. It could be argued there's not great depth to the Australian seam attack after the big two. England could go after Nathan Coulter-Nile — if he's the third seamer — and the spinner.

England - Eoin Morgan has so much respect from the England players and has done so much to get this side to where they are today. He's a very level-headed character, who will keep his side calm when the heat is at its most intense on Monday and that will be very important.

Australia - I can see similarities between Morgan and Aaron Finch, who has done very well after taking over in a very difficult situation. He is very close to his coach at Victoria, Andrew McDonald, and treats him as a confidante. He's a great man to have on his side.

England - I don't know Trevor Bayliss very well but it's clear that he's a very relaxed character and has encouraged a player-led environment with England.

Australia - I know Justin Langer as a friend and former team-mate but haven't seen too much of him as a coach. He's certainly a different character to Bayliss and probably has different methods. But it comes down to implementing what is best for your players and both have had great success.

The brutal reality is that Steve Smith and Warner will probably be booed a bit at Lord's, but they are big enough and ugly enough to deal with that. The past is the past and in time people will stop giving them stick, but they will cop it for now. They have to ignore it and focus on the right things.

Joe Root is such a key figure for England as an anchor for everyone else to bat around, so his battle with the Australian attack is crucial. Jonny Bairstow should enjoy the extra pace on the ball and, in the absence of Jason Roy, his clash with Starc and Cummins is another key battle. We know Finch and Warner like to take it on but will they be able to go hard against Archer? I think they will try to do so and get Australia off to a flyer.

I've got to go for Australia, haven't I? I want them to do well. All joking aside, I think it will be a cracking contest and the team that manages expectations the best will probably prevail. I've said all along that coping with those expectations would be England's greatest challenge in this tournament and that's especially the case on Tuesday.

Source: Daily Mail

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