Australia‘s tour to England heads to the 50-over format this week, with the first of five one-day internationals spread over just 11 days set to get underway at Trent Bridge on Thursday morning.
The weather ultimately forced these rivals to draw the Ashes last year, and it was a similar situation last Sunday when the heavens opened to call an end to the T20I series after a win apiece in Southampton and Cardiff.
Match preview
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England return to the 50-over format for the first time since December last year – a period during which the side relinquished the T20 world title to India and saw their hopes of a ‘perfect summer’ dashed by West Indies in the final Test of their tour.
The Three Lions will now look to make a positive start to the one-day series, unlike in the shortest format last week, but will have to do so without the services of white-ball skipper Jos Buttler, whose persistent calf injury ruled him out of the Hundred, T20 series, and has now forced him to sit out the ODIs as well.
Buttler has not featured for the hosts since they bowed out of the T20 World Cup in Guyana back in June and it is Harry Brook who has been selected to lead the team in this five-match series, which will also see him become England’s 37th ODI captain.
While Buttler’s absence is far from ideal, it has not affected England as much as some may have feared, as it paved the way for Liam Livingstone to return to the fold, and the Lancashire all-rounder was easily the pick of the Three Lions’ players in the 20-over format, top-scoring for them in both innings, including a Player of the Match performance in Cardiff where he blasted 87(47) and picked up 2/16 with the ball in just three overs.
Livingstone’s performance led England to victory that day and gave them the momentum coming into the first ODI at Trent Bridge, where their recent record has been average at best, with four wins, four losses and two no-results posted in their last 10.
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Meanwhile, Australia will have fond memories of their most recent visits to Nottingham during the 2019 World Cup, when David Warner‘s blistering 166 led them to a 48-run victory over Bangladesh and Nathan Coulter-Nile‘s 92 not-out secured a win against the West Indies a week earlier.
The Aussies also enter this series with the better recent head-to-head record, having won each of the last five ODIs against England, including a 3-0 clean sweep in November 2022 and a 33-run victory at the World Cup in India last year.
While the T20s saw the visitors field a much younger squad, the 50-over series will bring with it the return of stalwarts Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne, which will undoubtedly give the reigning world champions a huge lift, though it will be interesting to see how they fare having not played much international cricket recently – certainly not in English conditions.
Starc’s return, in particular, will be vital for the men from Down Under, who have already seen injuries blight their pace attack in the last month, with the likes of Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith and Xavier Bartlett all affected, while Josh Hazlewood‘s workload still requires fairly close management.
Still, Australia rarely put up poor showings in the ODI format, and with a blend of promising youth and experienced campaigners, it would not come as a massive shock if they put in a big performance in this opening match.
Team News
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Ben Duckett‘s impressive performances in the longest format of the game have earned him a call to the 50-over setup and he is expected to open the innings here on his home ground in Nottinghamshire.
Reports in the week indicate that interim coach Marcus Trescothick is ‘taking a cautious approach’ to manage Jofra Archer‘s workload, but he is likely to share the new ball with Cameron Green in this one after sitting out the second T20.
For the Aussies, all eyes will be on the highly-rated Jake Fraser-McGurk, who tore up the Indian Premier League this year to earn a spot as a T20 World Cup reserve, but then failed to make an impact in Scotland, contributing just 16 runs across three innings, including a pair of ducks in the first and third.
The visitors also received a major injury boost for the ODI series, with Mitchell Marsh cleared to play, and he will captain the side with Pat Cummins left out of the squad due to a planned rest period.
England squad: Harry Brook (c), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, John Turner
Team B 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
We say: Australia to win
While England are in a transitionary phase, they are missing a few key players that would have made the squad had it not been for injuries and may just need this first match to find their rhythm after a fairly lengthy absence from the ODI format.
Australia have several big names returning to their setup for this series and the experience the likes of Smith, Starc and Maxwell bring will be invaluable. For that reason, we feel the visitors will take the lead in this five-match battle.
