McGrath praises pace ace Harmison

Lord's scorecard

Aussie Glenn McGrath has pinpointed pace colleague Steve Harmison as a big reason behind England's recent success.

Harmison's three wickets in the tied NatWest Series final at Lord's gave him 15 for the tournament.

"Harmy is a class bowler and I think he's one of the main reasons why England have improved over the last 18 months," said McGrath.

"To have a bowler bowling at that pace with that lift has got to give the rest of the team confidence."

McGrath identified the 116-run sixth-wicket stand between Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones that rescued England from 33-5 as further proof of the team's new self-belief.

"They're playing with a lot more confidence - there's no doubt about that. They are more match aware," he continued.

One positive we'll take out of the series is that our opening bowlers have had success against their opening batsmen Glenn McGrath (left)

"Jones and Collingwood, in a tough situation, read the game pretty well and just tried to build an innings."

However, McGrath believes Australia have won a crucial battle in getting on top of England's opening batsmen.

Neither Marcus Trescothick nor Andrew Strauss has scored more than 25 in four matches between the sides so far, with three left before the Ashes Test series begins.

"One positive we'll take out of the series is that our opening bowlers have had success against their opening batsmen," said the 109-Test veteran who will return to Lord's on 21 July just one wicket shy of 500.

"They have been another key to why England have played so well. Trescothick is a key player, especially in their one-day team."

England captain Michael Vaughan said he never doubted Harmison would come back from some poor form on last winter's tour of South Africa.

"Harmy has been outstanding throughout the whole series," said Vaughan.

"Just because you have a couple of bad games in the winter doesn't make you a bad bowler.

"He's got character, he's come back and he's bowling nicely so it's great for the team that he is doing that."

Vaughan was pleased England were able to get out of a sticky situation at Lord's just as they have done before in Test cricket.

"The England side over the last couple of years has been in a lot of tricky positions, moreso in the Test arena," he added.

"It's nice to see us do it in a pressure situation in the one-day arena. We got ourselves out of trouble and could have got there in the end."

The first of three NatWest Challenge matches takes place at Headingley on Thursday.