Intro:

Speaking on Thursday, England ODI captain Alastair Cook and Australia captain Michael Clarke brushed aside suggestions the ODI series at Lord's is an Ashes warm-up.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Alastair Cook, England one-day captain:

"Yeah, they are ranked number one in the world, aren't they? So they're a quality outfit, and it's going to be a really good five-match series. It will be a nother test of us, to see where we are as a side, and I'm confident our lads can pull through it."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Clarke, Australia one-day captain:

"Yeah, they (England) are playing some really good cricket, and like you said they've had a lot of success in their own backyard, so we know it's going to be some really tough cricket, and we know we're going to have to be at our best. We've got a few guys who haven't experienced English conditions, so it's going to be new to them, different wickets. The way I guess it's been over the last couple of weeks here it's been a little bit colder than these young guys are accustomed to as well. So it's a great opportunity for us, and it's going to be really good experience for us."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Alastair Cook, England one-day captain:

(on being able to take over as number one in the ICC ODI rankings with 5-0 series win)

"Like all these ranking things, everyone likes it and the media likes talking about it. But as a side we'll always just focus on what we've got to do in the next game, starting at 10.45 tomorrow."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Michael Clarke, Australia one-day captain:

(on protecting Australia's number one ODI status)

"As we know, they have won their last six series at home, so they've been playing some really consistent cricket. It's important for us to play well, and to hopefully stay at number one. Our goal, in the Australian cricket team in all forms, is to be number one in the world, and I hope we can play some good cricket here in England and stay there."