England men’s cricket team head coach, Matthew Mott, is hoping that Josh Hazlewood was joking when he made the statement about Australia manipulating an early exit for the defending champions. 

England’s destiny in the ongoing T20 world Cup does not lie in their own hands. After a washout in the opening match, England were soundly defeated by Australia, leaving them at the mercy of other results. 

“I think I know Josh pretty well and I know his integrity. He has got a very good sense of humour and I am hoping it was very much tongue-in-cheek,” Mott said.

“I actually don’t think it is ever going to play out. Having grown up in Australia, and the will to win every game, I am sure they will come to the fore. I am very much hoping it was an offhand remark by a really good bloke who is having fun,” he added. 

Scotland have the biggest chance of qualifying for the Super 8, having won two matches and a superior run-rate than England.  

After the match against Namibia, the Australian pacer suggested that Australia could be tempted to “knock it around and drag it out”. 

“In this tournament, you potentially come up against England at some stage again,” Hazlewood said. 

“They’re probably one of the top few teams on their day, and we’ve had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament, that’s in our best interest as well as probably everyone else.

“It’ll be interesting to see. We’ve never really been in this position before as a team, I don’t think, so whether we have discussions or not, we’ll just try and play it again the way we did tonight. That’ll be up to [other] people, not me,” he continued.

If Australia do decide to go ahead with the tactic of slowing things down knowingly, they might risk their captain’s participation in the Super 8 stage. Mitchell Marsh could be charged under Article 2.11 of the ICC’s code of conduct, which entails a possible two-match ban, if the intent is proved.

(With inputs from agencies)