Axed Test batsman Ian Bell wants his England Lions team to give Australia a taste of the tough cricket they can expect when the Ashes battle begins.

Bell today leads the shadow side in a full-scale match against the tourists at Worcester and does not want to give the Aussies a comfortable ride with the First Test only a week away.

"We want to play aggressively and put a marker down as to the kind of state English cricket is in," said Bell, who lost his Test place during last winter's tour of West Indies.

"That's the kind of mentality we want to play with - to be positive with bat and ball. That's the kind of message we want to send to Australia."

Whatever happens at Worcester, England are unlikely to stray far from the XI currently playing Warwickshire when they finalise their team for Cardiff next week.

But Bell, Steve Harmison, Graham Onions and Adil Rashid can keep their names firmly in the frame for later this summer with some eye-catching performances.

"The good thing with the England team at the moment is that there is competition for places in all departments and this is another opportunity to come out and show that," said Bell.