Old enemies meet with eyes on bigger prizes to come

by Admin
September 10, 2024

Big Picture

Ready for some more England vs Australia? Whatever your answer may be, there’s plenty through the rest of this month with eight matches in 18 days starting with the first of three T20Is in Southampton. And from the paying punters’ point of view, the late-season action is proving popular with five of the games sold out after a Sri Lanka Test series where the less-than-crammed stands on some days was a talking point.

The ridiculousness of England’s schedule is again in the spotlight with this series starting the day after what would have been the last day of The Oval Test if it had gone the distance. It means an almost entirely separate squad for the T20Is – Josh Hull is the one overlap – in what is England’s first series after a stuttering T20 World Cup campaign which ultimately led to the sacking of Matthew Mott.

The England Men’s coaching roles will be unified under Brendon McCullum, but not until January with Marcus Trescothick taking charge for this series and the tour of West Indies in November (which is wedged between Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand) while for the T20Is at least there is also a stand-in captain with Phil Salt deputising for the injured Jos Buttler.

Still, there is no shortage of white-ball pedigree in the England squad: despite a shocking ODI World Cup and an uninspired T20 version it feels their depth remains significant, and perhaps it’s been a case of the golden generation being given a little too long before the next batch are let loose.

Before the three Scotland matches which began this tour for Australia, Mitchell Marsh played down talk of it being a T20 “reset” for his side after their disappointing exit from the World Cup where, in fact, they dropped out before England. The changing shape of the Australia side with a view to 2026 does feel more subtle than the home side, although there are some of England’s Test team that would have featured if the schedule had allowed.

They were very efficient in the three matches against Scotland with Josh Inglis and Cameron Green, who had been unused in the T20 World Cup squad, having impressive outings after Travis Head’s opening-game rampage.

The pace-bowling resources are being stretched with injuries popping up – most significantly to Nathan Ellis who is out of the tour – but Josh Hazlewood has joined up with the squad after a minor calf tweak meant he sat out the Scotland leg. It’s likely that Australia will continue to tinker with their combination and batting order during this series.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LWLWW
Australia WWWLL

In the spotlight: Jacob Bethell and Jake Fraser-McGurk

Given the new-look nature of the England squad you could almost pick out anyone, and perhaps it’s simpler to leave the spotlight on the entire XI. But allrounder Jacob Bethell, who was born in Barbados, has generated plenty of talk this season and his talents are already noted on the global stage with BBL and SA20 deals. He had a breakout season in the T20 Blast for Birmingham Bears, averaging 36.10 with a strike-rate of 153.61, which included a 15-ball 50. His team-mate Dan Mousley, who is also in the England squad, said: “I haven’t seen many people strike a ball like that.”

Jake Fraser-McGurk was given first dibs at replacing David Warner at the top of Australia’s order, but it wasn’t the easiest of starts against Scotland with two ducks either side of making 16 to begin his T20I career. He’s given the licence to go at top gear from ball one, but the slow, two-paced surfaces did not appear to his liking, a world away from the flat pitches in the IPL where he put his name up in lights earlier this year after enjoying a breakout home summer. Following on from a lean MLC it means Fraser-McGurk has 97 runs in his last ten T20 innings. With Matt Short available for this series after the early arrival of his first baby, having originally only been part of the ODI squad, and others who could easily open, Fraser-McGurk may not get all three matches against England, or he could potentially be tried in another position.

Team news: England had debuts to Bethell, Cox

England confirmed their XI more than 24 hours before the game. Bethell and Jordan Cox will earn their first caps while Jamie Overton, who was called up as Jos Buttler’s replacement, also makes his T20I debut as a batter-only as he continues to recover from a back injury. Saqib Mahmood plays his first international since March 2023.

England: 1 Phil Salt (capt & wk), 2 Will Jacks, 3 Jordan Cox, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Jacob Bethell, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Reece Topley

Marsh did not name Australia’s XI but confirmed that Hazlewood was good to return after his calf niggle. He also said that if Short plays he will open the batting which potentially means Fraser-McGurk missing out.

Australia: (possible) 1 Travis Head, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk/Matt Short, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Tim David, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

There wasn’t much grass on the surface and some of the bigger boundaries in the country could should suit Australia. The autumn weather is set fair, if chilly by the evening. The match is a sellout and Hampshire are switching on 1000 solar panels at Utilita Bowl before the game.

Stats and trivia

Southampton was the venue for the first T20I between these teams in 2005 when Australia were bowled out for 79 ahead of that summer’s Ashes. In 2020 the ground stage three behind-closed-doors T20s during Covid which England won 2-1.

Josh Inglis currently averages 42.87 with a strike-rate of 176.80 when batting at No. 3 in T20Is

In 24 T20Is between these sides, it stands all squad at 11-11 with two no-results

Quotes

“We see him playing a pivotal role as Jos’ right-hand man… his name stood up to the leadership qualities that you expect from your players within the group and he’s got every attribute that you’d want and the respect that you’d want from a captain.”
Marcus Trescothick on Salt deputising for Buttler

“No matter what format, they’re our oldest rivals and we love coming here. The reception we get as an Australian cricket team’s always a good one.”
Mitchell Marsh on the playing England again

Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo