Australia’s white-ball tour of the United Kingdom wraps up with a five-match ODI series against rivals England, which gets underway at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

Led by Mitchell Marsh, the reigning World Cup champions will use the bilateral series as an opportunity to workshop its strongest starting XI ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Following the United Kingdom tour, Australia only has three ODIs scheduled before the major ICC event, a trophy the nation hasn’t won since 2009.

Australia won its previous ODI campaign against England in the United Kingdom, a 2-1 triumph during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, while it’s been over six years since the Poms toppled their Ashes rivals in a bilateral ODI series.

The first match between England and Australia gets underway on Thursday at 9.30pm AEST.

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FOUR-HORSE RACE TO BECOME WARNER’S ODI HEIR

While an intriguing battle looms between Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk for the vacant T20 opening slot, the identity of David Warner’s ODI replacement remains in the air.

Short and Fraser-McGurk are both contenders to open the batting alongside Travis Head against England this month, although neither has a wealth of experience in the role.

With only four ODI caps to his name, Short has opened the batting once for Australia in the 50-over format, scoring 9 against India in Indore last year ahead of the World Cup. However, the Victorian has averaged 86.00 in the domestic one-day cup over the previous two summers, blasting two hundreds and three fifties in nine matches.

Meanwhile, Fraser-McGurk burst onto the international scene in February by smacking a whirlwind 41 (18) against the West Indies in Canberra. The South Australian opener also shattered the all-time record for fastest century in List A cricket last year, a 29-ball hundred against Tasmania at Karen Rolton Oval.

However, wicketkeeper Josh Inglis has not only been in scintillating form with the bat, but the West Australian has proven a successful opener in domestic one-day cricket as well, scoring 293 runs at 73.25 with a strike rate of 127.39 since the start of 2022.

Inglis also opened the batting during this year’s ODI series against the West Indies, registering scores of 65, 9 and 35*.

Elsewhere, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh has a superb record opening the batting in ODIs, averaging 55.40 with a strike rate of 113.75, while Steve Smith and Cameron Green are also contenders at the top of the order. However, Smith and Green will likely slot into the middle order alongside Glenn Maxwell and Marnus Labuschagne.

With one eye on next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan, national selectors may be tempted to trial several openers in the United Kingdom this month.

AUSSIE PACE DEPTH TESTED

Mitchell Starc returns to the national white-ball squad for the ODIs against England, but Australia’s pace bowling depth is set to be tested over the coming fortnight.

The Australians are missing nearly a dozen pace options for the five-match series due to injury and workload management, forcing the national selectors to rush across reinforcements.

Xavier Bartlett has been ruled out of the ODIs after suffering a side strain during the first T20 against England, while Nathan Ellis is also unavailable after failing to recover from a hamstring injury. Riley Meredith missed the final two T20s against Scotland due to soreness, while Spencer Johnson missed the United Kingdom tour altogether after sustaining a side strain in The Hundred.

After skipping the Scotland T20s due to a minor calf strain, Josh Hazlewood is expected to be managed throughout the England ODIs, perhaps only playing two or three matches, while Test captain Pat Cummins is still in Australia to work on strength and conditioning ahead of the home summer.

Elsewhere, fringe seamers Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson and Will Sutherland were not considered for selection as they return from injury setbacks over the winter.

Sean Abbott and Starc were the only remaining specialist quicks in Australia’s touring party, forcing national selectors to fly over New South Wales seamer Ben Dwarshuis, who is poised to make his ODI debut this month.

Australia also dropped a bombshell on Monday evening by jetting across Under-19 World Cup champion Mahli Beardman, who has been named as a touring reserve — the teenager could make his international debut next week should injury intervene yet again.

Regardless, all-rounder Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie are expected to play a crucial role with the ball in the upcoming ODIs, collectively serving as the fifth bowling option.

AUSSIES’ AWKWARD LORD’S REUNION

We all know what happened the last time Australia played at Lord’s.

During last year’s Ashes series, there were chaotic scenes in the Lord’s Long Room after Alex Carey’s infamous stumping of England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, sparking heated debate within the cricket community.

Three MCC members were handed bans after patrons clashed with Australian players in the pavilion, but the ugly incident has marred the club’s stellar reputation for respect and cordiality.

“One of them was foaming at the mouth,” Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne recalled during Amazon’s The Test documentary.

“A bloke hit (David Warner) when he went up the stairs.”

Carey, who was at the centre of the drama last year, has been named in Australia’s ODI squad as the reserve wicketkeeper, returning to Lord’s for the fourth match on September 27.

Speaking to News Corp this week, Australian batter Steve Smith hoped the MCC members would heed the lessons of last year.

“I’d say people would want to be careful, the ones that got stuck in got booted,” Smith said.

“So I assume people would want to be pretty careful, but I don’t know. We’ll wait and see.”

ENGLAND UNVEIL NEXT GENERATION

Australia is not the only team undergoing a transition in its white-ball set-up.

England has called up several fresh faces for this month’s ODI series after a series of high-profile retirements and axings. All-rounder Moeen Ali announced his international retirement after missing selection for the five-match campaign, while wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was also dropped after a form slump with the bat.

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler has been ruled out of the ODIs against Australia due to a calf injury, with Harry Brook leading the team in his absence.

Test gloveman Jamie Smith, with just two ODI caps to his name, will don the gloves against Australia this week, while young guns Jacob Bethell and Jordan Cox, who each made their international debuts during last week’s T20 series, headline the next crop of talent coming through the ranks.

Elsewhere, pace bowlers John Turner and Brydon Carse are expected to be unleashed over the coming fortnight after fellow quicks Gus Atkinson and Josh Hull were ruled out with injury.

England’s coaching staff is also undergoing a change — Matthew Mott stepped down from the white-ball role after the T20 World Cup, with Bazball mastermind Brendon McCullum preparing to unify the coaching roles next year.

However, former Test opener Marcus Trescothick will serve as coach for the Australian ODI series, which is England’s last white-ball assignment of the calendar year.

ZAMPS ON VERGE OF SURPASSING THE KING

It’s gone under the radar somewhat, but Adam Zampa is on the verge of surpassing the legendary Shane Warne as Australia’s most prolific white-ball spinner.

Zampa, who will play his 100th ODI this week, has taken 280 wickets at 25.56 for Australia since making his international debut in 2016. The 32-year-old is only 14 scalps away from overtaking Warne, who snared 293 wickets at 25.73 across his 194-match ODI career.

Warne will always be the King of Spin, but Zampa, a two-time World Cup champion, will hold the mantle of Australia’s greatest white-ball spinner when he decides to hang up the boots.

“When you look back as a young guy, playing for your country for the first time, it’s not something you really think about … I never thought I’d play this much for Australia,” Zampa told reporters on Tuesday,

“So yeah, it’s great to be playing that 100th ODI. I have my family here (in England) – my wife, my son, my parents – it’s going to be a nice occasion.”

He continued: “While I’m enjoying playing for Australia, I feel like I’m bowling good enough and want to improve. I’ll just continue to roll through.

“I really love playing for this group, under this coaching staff. While I’m enjoying it, there’s no reason to think about an end date.”

Australian ODI Squad

Mitch Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Reserve: Mahli Beardman

England vs Australia ODI Fixtures

All times AEST

September 19 — First ODI vs England at Trent Bridge, 9.30pm

September 21 — Second ODI vs England at Headingley, 8pm

September 24 — Third ODI vs England at Riverside, 9.30pm

September 27 — Fourth ODI vs England at Lord’s, 9.30pm

September 29 — Fifth ODI vs England at Bristol’s County Ground, 8pm