Australia will be desperate to get off the mark in a dismal tour as they square off against England in a One-off Twenty20 International on June 27 (Wednesday) at Edgbaston.
Meanwhile, England routed the visitors 5-0 in the One-day International series and will look to hone their killer instinct. However, Alex Carey warned in the build-up to the match, Australia are ready to give it a “red-hot” go in this format.
Skipper Aaron Finch will have to take the responsibility to steer Australia’s fortunes. Kangaroos, however, have welcomed some fresh faces who were not part of the one-day squad. Batsman Nic Maddinson, leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson and seam-bowling all-rounder Jack Wildermuth have joined the party in the United Kingdom (UK).
On the other side, the Three Lions selected a strong squad for this match and the three that follow against Virat Kohli-led India. Only Mark Wood will miss the series as the selectors decided to give him some time off.
Furthermore, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes are missing following an injury. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, who played a crucial for England in the ODI series will certainly open the innings as hinted by Paul Frabrace.
As a result, Alex Hales is likely to come at one drop with Jonny Bairstow dropping in the middle-order. Chris Jordan looks set to pip Sam Curran for a place in the playing XI.
On the other hand, Carey will take over the gloves from ODI skipper Tim Paine. Glenn Maxwell is likely to return to the first XI after recovering from his shoulder injury.
Andrew Tye’s variations are likely to have more mileage in the shorter format while Swepson might well find a way into the starting XI.
Squads:
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Tom Curran, Jake Ball, and Chris Jordan
Australia: Aaron Finch(c), D Arcy Short, Travis Head, Alex Carey(w), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Jhye Richardson, Nic Maddinson, Jack Wildermuth, Mitchell Swepson
Form guide
England WLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWW
Pitch and conditions:
Perfect weather, belting pitch, full house. It will be a well-battled game with both the teams likely to stamp their authority. It will also be sunny out there in the middle.
The ground is likely to open early to encourage people to watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup on the big screen.
Stats and trivia:
- Australia won all five of their fixtures in the aforementioned tri-series, making it six out of seven victories (plus one abandonment) since February 2017.
- England, by contrast, have rather lost their mojo since reaching the final of the World Twenty20 in April 2016. They have won five and lost eight of their last 13 games.
- They did, however, hold their nerve in their most recent outing, defending a total of 194 – to win by two runs against New Zealand in Hamilton.
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