England coach Andy Flower has praised the efforts of the trio of new central-contract players.

Matt Prior, Graeme Swann and Graham Onions are among the 11 players awarded the full, annual deals.

Injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been handed one of England's increment contracts for the next 12 months - but Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar have been completely overlooked.

"Prior's consistency, and improvement with the gloves has been impressive," said Flower.

"He still has a lot of work to do, and I expect even better performances from him in the future.

"Graeme Swann has done a really good job as our premier spin bowler this past year, and played significant roles in a lot of victories we have had.

"Graham Onions is part of our fast-bowling unit, so we are going to look after him."

Flintoff, 31, is currently recovering from knee surgery and does not qualify for a full central contract because of his recent retirement from the longest form of the game.

"Following his retirement from Test cricket, Andrew Flintoff is no longer eligible for a 12-month central contract," said national selector Geoff Miller.

"The decision to award an incremental contract to Andrew reflects our view that he will still have an important role to play in our one-day side going forward and we wish him well with his rehabilitation from injury.

"As we saw in this summer's npower Ashes Test series, he remains a world-class talent."

Without Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, the other global star in their ranks, England have slipped 3-0 behind against Australia in the one-day NatWest Series.

One of their failings has been in taking advantage of the batting powerplay.

But, ahead of Satruday's contest at Lord's, Flower said: "The theory of calling them earlier because your batsmen get out early, and you had better get them out of the way while your batsmen are still in, is a flawed theory.

"The problem is our batsmen have not been good enough to stay in to the period where we should be taking the powerplay."

Australia are boosted by the return of captain Ricky Ponting, knowing one win from the final four will seal series success.

Ponting's return will mean a shift down the order for Cameron White, who has 200 runs in three innings to date.

But there is to be another member of the management team due to rest with Australia coach Tim Nielsen to miss the final three matches to spend time with his family.

"It's hard work for every single one of us when you're on the road for as long as we are, and the coach has obviously been through the ringer as much as any of the players have over the last few months," said Ponting.

"To give him the chance to get away and freshen up is a great idea.

"As most players have done when they come back from a break, they've managed to play well, so hopefully once the coach gets back he can coach us even better and we can win some more games."