DON’T worry about falling asleep watching England pulverise Bangladesh — the Australians are almost here. Their one-day squad lands next Sunday and two weeks tomorrow England and Australia do battle for the first time this summer in an inaugural Twenty20 match at Southampton’s Rose Bowl.

England’s selectors meet tomorrow to select a squad for that match and the triangular NatWest Series that follows. Assuming England and Australia beat Bangladesh to a place in the final (call me rash, if you will), the two sides will meet four times in that event before the three-match NatWest Challenge, a series that takes the bold step of doing away with Bangladesh altogether.

Both camps will insist eight one-day matches have no bearing on the Ashes, but they must offer clues as to how the sides will match up in the Test arena. England took great heart from their victory over Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-final last September, but a string of setbacks would make it hard for them to carry much optimism to Lord’s for the opening Test on July 21. There are psychological points to be won.

England intend to name a 15-man squad. Last year, 14 bodies sufficed for the NatWest Series. The extra man may indicate that they plan to include Gareth Batty as cover for first-choice spinner Ashley Giles, who is nursing a sore right hip, or that having dropped to seventh in the one-day rankings after being thumped 4-1 by South Africa in the winter, they are not sure of their likeliest winning XI.

By the time the one-day schedule starts, Matthew Maynard will have taken up his post as full-time assistant coach to the national team. Maynard, 39, confirmed yesterday that he was bringing forward his retirement as a player from September to work full-time with the national team, the academy and various age-group sides.

Maynard, an ally of Duncan Fletcher’s from their time together at Glamorgan, has acted as England’s specialist one-day batting coach since last September. “I have spent 20 years with Glamorgan and leaving Sophia Gardens behind will be a big wrench, but this is a terrific opportunity for me to bring my skills and experience to bear at the top level,” Maynard said. “I’m very excited about the prospect.”

What will heighten English optimism is that Andrew Flintoff will be named in an England one-day squad for the first time since the Australia match eight months ago, and ought to be capable of bowling his full quota of overs, restoring much-needed balance to the side. The prospect of Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen playing together for the first time will boost ticket sales and raise spirits. The return of Flintoff aside, few changes are expected. England are expected to continue opening with Geraint Jones despite his mixed performances in South Africa.

Naturally, England will want plenty of experience against Australia but there appears to be scope to introduce one or two uncapped players among the reserve bowling. Among the candidates are Jon Lewis of Gloucestershire, who has come close to selection for the Test side, and Chris Tremlett, the tall Hampshire bowler who showed good control in the early weeks of the season before a a tendon problem.

More likely, England will return to Simon Jones, whose one-day experience is so far limited to two matches in Zimbabwe last year. Fletcher has long been keen to assimilate Jones into the one-day side. He has three much-prized strengths for a fast bowler in the short game: he can reverse-swing the ball, can hit strongly with the bat, and has a good arm. The credentials of Rikki Clarke, the in-form Surrey allrounder, will also have been discussed. Clarke spent last winter at the national academy, where he added a yard of pace, and is responding to England’s call to not just turn in performances, but turn matches. He is a brilliant fielder.

The likeliest man to make way for Flintoff, who missed the series in South Africa to have ankle surgery, is Vikram Solanki. England would presumably prefer to give Ian Bell as many matches as they can now that he has been drafted into the Test side. Another point of discussion will be whether to retain James Anderson, who was in the party in South Africa but did not play. England may prefer to let him work on his game with Lancashire.

PROBABLE SQUAD: M Trescothick, M Vaughan (captain), A Strauss, I Bell, K Pietersen, A Flintoff, P Collingwood, G Jones, A Giles, G Batty, D Gough, S Harmison, S Jones, Kabir Ali, A Wharf or J Lewis.