Moeen Ali vows to bat positively

Moeen Ali, England's opener in ODIs, has vowed to remain positive and bat in an aggressive manner during the tri-series as well as the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2015. He also believes that his new opening partnership with Ian Bell has the potential to make England one of the worthy contenders for the World Cup title.

The 27-year old batsman was promoted to open for England during the recent seven-match ODI series in Sri Lanka. He returned with a mixed bag, scoring 236 runs at an average of 33.71. However, it was his flashy stroke-play which caught the imagination. In the very first match, he led England's chase of 318 with an aggressive 87-ball 119. He reached his century off just 72 balls, only the third fastest one-day hundred by an England batsman, behind Kevin Pietersen and Jos Buttler.

Moeen and Bell partnered together in England's first outing since landing in Australia, in a practice match against an ACT invitation XI. The pair added 75 runs for the first wicket and both men went on to score fifties. With Alastair Cook left out of the squad for the World Cup, England will be going into the tournament with an unsettled opening pair. But Moeen believes that he can form a dominant partnership with Bell. "I've batted with Belly quite a bit. When I first started at Warwickshire, he was there and I enjoyed batting with him," he said.

"I think it was good first time out," Moeen said, talking about the first practice game. "I felt we complemented each other really well. I think, naturally I will be aggressive but I had to take my time a little bit with it being the first game. There were expansive shots when we needed them. I will just bat how I normally do and if there's something to hit I'll hit it," he added.

Moeen said he would continue to remain positive with his batting and believes it's the best way for him to score runs. "Aggressively is probably the only way I can play in one-day cricket. I feel it's the best way for me to play and if I've got any doubt, I just tell myself to go hard and not go into a little shell," Moeen said.

Referring to the Sri Lanka series, Moeen said he needed to learn from his mistakes and felt England's chances of going a long way in the World Cup hinged on the starts provided by the top-order. "In Sri Lanka, I got bowled first ball having a slog in the last match [in Colombo]. It's not nice to get out first ball but I'd prefer to get out having a go rather than just blocking it.

"If we are going to win the World Cup and be a successful one-day side we will need good starts. We need guys in the top three who can set the standards for everyone else and be expansive and take some risks," he said.

England are due to play a strong Prime Minister's XI squad in their final practice match at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday. The team is led by Test opener, Chris Rogers, and includes World Cup members, Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins. Moeen reckons that tomorrow's match is an opportunity to send a message across to the Australians. "As a team, tomorrow is a chance to show we've taken a step forward and that we have intent and will come harder at Australia than perhaps we have done previously," he said.

"We just need to focus on what we need to do and try to win the game. Yesterday the standard of the opposition wasn't as good as it will be, but we showed we can be quite ruthless. That can only be good and hopefully we will put in a good performance tomorrow against a good side," he added.

Australia have rested Mitchell Johnson for the first match of the tournament, against England, on January 16 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Moeen has never faced Johnson previously and has no fear in taking on the fast bowler. "I'm not too fussed to be honest," said Moeen. "I'll face him at some stage probably. He's a world-class bowler who's got so much respect and I've never faced anyone like that, so we will see what happens but I will just prepare to be ready to face anybody. I feel like I'm ready to face anybody. I feel like I'm batting well in the nets and stuff, so I'm not too fussed who bowls," he signed off