Former captain Andrew Strauss has expressed his belief that England sent out a negative message by dropping Ravi Bopara for their World Cup opener against Australia.

England were thrashed by 111 runs in Melbourne this morning, with Gary Ballance making just 10 on his return to the side at the expense of Bopara, who had played in all of the pre-tournament matches.

Strauss, who skippered his country at the 2011 World Cup, feels that England's last-minute change of thinking was a sign of fear and thinks that the lineup is imbalanced without the Essex all-rounder.

"Australia took the game to England but England were a bit nervy and conservative, even with the team selection by bringing in Ballance for Bopara before the game," he told Sky Sports News. "You could see that was a negative and that they were worried about Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc and that sent out the wrong message.

"The fact that Bopara was in the team in Sri Lanka and in the Tri-Series in Australia but dropped for the first game of the World Cup suggests the planning has gone wrong.

"You could argue that he hasn't taken his chance but the England team is not as well-balanced without him."

Bopara averages 30.62 with the bat and 39.26 with the ball in 119 one-day internationals.