Cricket: Vaughan Sets Out Stall for World Cup Final

Michael Vaughan celebrated England's qualification for the final of the one-day series with a bold prediction that the matches against Australia might serve as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup final.

Less than a fortnight ago England's Australian humiliation seemed complete but with Vaughan back in charge England have somehow assembled an increasingly competitive and resilient one-day side.

"This is the chance to play the world champions in a final and who is to say that might not happen on April 28?" he said. "It is a great opportunity for us to test our mental strengths and our techniques and skills in a huge final.

"I don't think that we can recover anything from the Ashes defeat: we were heavily beaten, 5-0, by a better team. This one-day series, about a week ago, was looking pretty similar but we have fought and we have worked hard in practice and there has been a real atmosphere around the camp. We wanted to play Australia again and gain experience ahead of the World Cup. Now we can do that.

"What was really impressive against New Zealand was that we stood up and withstood the pressure. That experience has to hold us in good stead.

"It's easy to say we are going to play with a free spirit in the finals but we are playing Australia in front of a full house at the MCG on Friday and it's not easy to do. We just have to take the momentum from these last two games and play good basic cricket. If we do that then we should put Australia under pressure."

The captain rejected speculation that Kevin Pietersen might make a shock reappearance in the best-of-three final. "It's the first I've heard of it," he said. "I think the guys who have played well in the last week deserve a crack at Australia."