One of England’s most extraordinary seasons will end with them facing arch-rivals Australia as both sides try to strike a balance between p...
One of England’s most extraordinary seasons will end with them facing arch-rivals Australia as both sides try to strike a balance between playing their strongest limited-overs teams and keeping an eye on the future.
The coronavirus pandemic threatened to wipe out England’s entire home season yet they are now set to complete all 18 scheduled men’s internationals, albeit the fixtures have been played behind closed doors.
They face Australia in three Twenty20s in Southampton starting on Friday before taking on their oldest foes in a further three one-day internationals in Manchester later this month.
The Twenty20s should have served as preparation for October’s T20 World Cup in Australia but the Covid-19 outbreak means the next edition of the global showpiece will take place in India in 2021.
That does give both teams time to fine-tune their line-ups but equally they may want to give their strongest XIs as much as time as they can in their middle.
Australia are currently the world’s top-ranked T20 side, with much of thir success built on a top order featuring captain Aaron Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith.
So even though the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Marnus Labuschagne have been in the runs during Australia’s warm-up matches in England, they are unlikely to displace the...
