HAMPSHIRE seamer Alan Mullally rates Michael Vaughan's one-day side as the best England limited-overs team he has seen.

Veteran left-armer Mullally was part of the last England team to beat Australia in a one-day international - more than FIVE YEARS ago.

He was the number two bowler in one-day international cricket when England won by seven runs in Sydney back in January 1999.

A week earlier Mullally had taken 4 for 18 in Brisbane. On that occasion he dismissed Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn as England won the opening match of the 1998-99 Carlton & United Series, also by seven runs. Then he helped defeat the Aussies again at the SCG, where Graeme Hick scored 108 and Nasser Hussain 93.

But since then, England have lost 14 successive ODIs against their biggest rivals.

Now, thanks to their 49-run win against Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl, they have the chance to end that dismal run tomorrow, when they play Australia at Edgbaston for a place in Sunday's ICC Champions Trophy final at The Oval.

Mullally, who won 50 ODI caps, believes that England will end their dismal run when they play the Aussies for the first time since losing a World Cup pool match by just two wickets 18 months ago

He said: "You have to be at your very best to beat the Aussies and hope that they have an off day, but I'm backing this England team to win a place in the final.

"It's the best England one-day side I've ever seen but we need to make sure we go hard at them.

"Our one-day form this year has improved a lot and this is going to be a fantastic game, that's for sure.

"I know they've got a lot more respect for us now, they know we're playing very good cricket.

"But if we win it will be a huge psychological advantage ahead of next year's Ashes series.

"There are always peaks and troughs and this is a definite peak. We've got the firepower with bat and ball to compete with the very best.

England are up there with Australia and Pakistan as the best teams in the tournament."

Darren Gough and Ashley Giles are the only survivors from the last England side to beat the Aussies.

Mullally added: "Goughy's career has been in doubt since then but he's back to full fitness and bowling really well and Steve Harmison is now twice the bowler he was when we last played Australia.

"He's now the best fast bowler in the world, without a shadow of a doubt, and Andrew Flintoff is the best all rounder.

"Those are three reasons why we are a better side than we were 18 month ago.

"Australia are still very good and since the World Cup guys like Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Andrew Symonds have come in.

"They're are all fantastic performers but Australia haven't faced a guy like Steve Harmison since the days when Curtly Ambrose was at his peak, so it's going to be fantastic to see Harmy bowl against them.

"He was bowling at more than 96 mph at the Rose Bowl which is up there with Shoaib Ahktar and Brett Lee - and at 6ft 6in that's frightening."

The winners of tomorrow's Edgbaston clash will face either West Indies or Pakistan, who clash at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, in the Champions Trophy final.

Pakistan's win against India at Edgbaston yesterday means the Rose Bowl will create history as the first cricket venue in the world to have hosted all the current Test-playing nations for a limited-overs international.