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THE second day/night final was washed out without a ball being bowled yesterday as the rainy weather followed England to Melbourne.

England were anxious to get back on terms with Australia after losing the first final in Sydney by 10 runs. But Alec Stewart's team only met frustration as the first serious rain to hit Melbourne for seven weeks did its worst after the England captain had won the toss and elected to bat.

The match will now be played today and if England win to level the Carlton and United series at 1-1, they will meet the hosts in a deciding, back-to-back final tomorrow.

England had given a vote of confidence to the side beaten in Sydney, while Australia nominated Queensland and Essex all-rounder Stuart Law to replace Michael Bevan, who dislocated a finger in the opening final.

England badly need a lift after losing five of their last six matches in the series, and chairman of selectors David Graveney has warned that it is not too late to change their strategy for the World Cup.

The bowling - apart from the throwing controversy match against Sri Lanka in Adelaide - has come up to expectations, as has the fielding, but the batting is still a source of worry. England are not consistently posting big enough totals, and are generally not making full use of the first 15 overs when only two men are allowed outside the fielding circle.

Then the odds are stacked in the batsmen's favour. But Nick Knight's strike rate is 60 runs per 100 balls against the ideal 80 of Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist. The Warwickshire left-hander, though, has been fairly consistent with 311 runs in his 11 innings (average 28.27) with a top score of 58. But Stewart's failure to score a fifty in 10 knocks (top score 39) has hit England's output.

Leg spinner Shane Warne, 29, has been chosen as Steve Waugh's vice-captain for Australia's tour of the West Indies next month.

Australian Squad: *S R Waugh, M J Slater, M T G Elliott, M E Waugh, J L Langer, G S Blewett, R T Ponting, -I A Healy, S K Warne, S C G MacGill, J N Gillespie, G D McGrath, C R Miller, A Dale, A J Bichel.