Biggies' final preps

World Cup big guns Australia, England and India get their final preparations for next month's tournament under way when the one-day international tri-series begins in Sydney on Friday.

The Australians face England at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the first match before renewing hostilities with World Cup holders India in Melbourne on Sunday, just a week after their 2-0 Test series win.

England made the big call of replacing Alastair Cook with Eoin Morgan as captain less than two months out from the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and he gets his chance to fine-tune the squad during the tri-series.

Morgan's team have been among the runs in their two warm-up games in Canberra, scoring a total of 755 with Ian Bell blasting 187 off 145 balls in Wednesday's 60-run canter over the Prime Minister's XI.

Bell's knock was the highest innings by an England batsman in a competitive 50-over match, eclipsing Robin Smith's 167 against Australia at Edgbaston in 1993.

"It's nice to get some runs in the week we've had here," Bell said.

"It's a nice start to the tour and hopefully we can kick on in the main games.

"I've done a lot of netting in the last month, so it's nice to get a real big score in a competitive game."

England's recent ODI record has been poor, with series defeats in Sri Lanka and against India at home, and they will be looking to run into some form against two of the World Cup favourites.

The Australians edge India at the top of the ODI rankings after a 4-1 home series victory over South Africa in November and they will be looking to win the tri-series to widen their lead at the top in their quest for a fifth World Cup crown.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead India in the tri-series and World Cup after retiring from Tests during the recent Australia series.

India failed to make the final of the last tri-series they played in Australia, but they are strong in the batting department with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane.

But their big test will be their bowling strength, with former Test batsman Rahul Dravid among many critics who have said the bowlers continue to be a big let-down.