Watson expecting 'white-wash' at England's hands

London, June 30 (ANI): All-rounder Shane Watson is fearing a white-wash for the Australians at the hands of England when the two teams take each other on at The Oval today.

England are leading the one-day series three to nil, and victory today, will give England a 4-0 lead in the NatWest Series and leave them one win from a scarcely-believable whitewash against the team which has dominated world cricket for 20 years, The Sun reports.

"Our memories of The Oval are not great, to be fair. It wasn't our greatest game last year. I've had some good times playing here with Hampshire, it's a beautiful wicket and suits my cricket. I just want to erase some of the bad memories of last year," Watson was quoted, as saying.

"We definitely don't want a whitewash. Australia don't normally lose 5-0 at anything but England are playing good cricket and we're slightly below par. We must step up, but there's no need for big crisis meetings and that sort of thing. I'm not surprised by England," he added.

"We've seen how they've played recently and particularly in the World Twenty20. Kevin Pietersen is back after being sorely missed by England in last year's one-day series when we won 6-1 - he is a world-class batsman," Watson said.

England off-spinner Mike Yardy, however, said: "We regard Australia as the best team in the world. So, it is already a massive achievement to win the series." (ANI)