Johannesburg, Sept. 23: England skipper Andrew Strauss feels his team are ready for the challenges of the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy despite the 1-6 hammering at the hands of Australia in the one-day international series at home that immediately followed their 2-1 Ashes triumph.

Speaking ahead of their first game — against opening day winners Sri Lanka — here at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, the South African-born Strauss said, "A change of environment makes a big difference.

Ajantha Mendis played a key role in Sri Lanka’s 55-run Duckworth/Lewis win over hosts South Africa at Centurion on Tuesday, and Strauss said they would be looking to play him and spin twin Muttiah Muralitharan out without too much damage.

"We each have our individual gameplans on how we are going to tackle Mendis. There are certain fundamentals for all bowlers that you take into the game but it’s a new challenge to read his variations and we’re up for that.

"He asks different questions of you," he added.