Squads
England T20 squad:Â Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey
Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth
Location: Edgbaston, Birmingham – 6:30pm start.Â
T20 gives an opportunity to impress
Edgbaston will welcome Australia for a one-off T20 contest this Wednesday. With the next World T20 still two years away, many will view this game as irrelevant. However, for the players involved, this represents a prime opportunity to impress the national selectors.
England
Eoin Morgan’s side includes some changes from the ODI series against Australia, covered extensively by LazyFanSports.com. All-rounder Ben Stokes is unavailable, still recovering from the hamstring injury that left him out of the one-day matches. Likewise, Chris Woakes will also not play, suffering from a knee injury. Mark Wood is rested for the four games, after an extensive period in the white and blue of England.
Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow make their return to the setup having been rested for the T20 matches in the winter. The rotation policy, especially with no major tournament in the near future, allows Jake Ball along with brothers Tom and Sam Curran to make their mark in the T20 red. Both Ball and S. Curran are in line for their twenty over international debuts, emphasising England’s strength in depth in the one-day formats.
Australia
Aaron Finch takes over the reins as T20 captain for the Aussies alongside Alex Carey as his vice-skipper and wicketkeeper. The one-off twenty over match allows the side to end the disastrous tour of the UK on a high note. Currently sat in second position in the T20 world rankings, the team is in a far better place than the ODI side.
Despite this, the absence of David Warner, former captain and opener for the side, leaves a vacancy which Australia have, thus far, failed to replace. England will certainly hope to exploit this uncertainty in front of an almost sell-out Edgbaston crowd. Australia’s issues primarily concern team balance, with four players who all open at franchise level in the Australian Big Bash. Captain Finch has to ensure his side can fire come the first ball at 6:30.
LazyFanSports.com Game Assessment
This T20, while not a critical clash, definitely provides intrigue to both the cricket anorak and young supporters. A permanent criticism of English cricket is our inferior domestic T20 tournament, arguably exploited in the tri-series with Australia and New Zealand earlier on this year. However, in home conditions it would be ludicrous to write off England. They enter the match in scintillating form with the bat following the One-Day series whitewash.
Expect dynamic and destructive stroke-making, T20 internationals are back on English soil.
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