Australian News Today

Australian stars struck down by illness ahead of England clash

Australian stars struck down by illness ahead of England clash

“He’s a ripping young kid, he’s on standby at this point in time, but for a young kid he’s certainly got a lot of talent,” Marsh said of Beardman. “He showed that throughout the under-19 World Cup, and I think he’s going to learn a lot by being here over the next couple of weeks.

“I’ve certainly faced him in the nets a few times and we’ve seen over the history of Australian cricket, we’ve got a long list of guys who’ve been plucked I guess out of nowhere, but Mahli’s extremely talented, he bowls fast and I’m rapt to have him here.”

Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis (a reinforcement in place of the injured Nathan Ellis) and Aaron Hardie are all likely starters for Australia, alongside Cameron Green.

England will be led by the young Yorkshireman Harry Brook with Jos Buttler out injured, while Jofra Archer will play his first 50-over games in 18 months as part of a careful return to longer form cricket after a litany of injuries.

“We’re going to have the same principles [so it is a case of] trying to put that forward to the team already before Baz takes over,” Brook said of a white-ball group now mentored by Brendon McCullum, who was named as all-format England coach earlier this month following his Test match success in tandem with Ben Stokes.

“Me and Tres [interim coach Marcus Trescothick] are both on the same page to Baz, we want to go out there and entertain the crowd, take the game on, try to take wickets and put the pressure on their bowlers. And in the field, chase down every ball and just try to influence the game as much as you can.”

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