Melbourne Cricket Ground the location of the first ODI between England and Australia
(Image courtesy of Pattav2 via wikimedia.org )
With the conclusion of the Ashes test series on Monday, which resulted in an emphatic overall victory for the home side, the attentions of both teams have now turned towards the shorter format of the game, with the first match of the ODI series starting on Sunday. Whilst Australia will be looking to translate their dominant performances in the test arena to success in white ball cricket, England will be hoping to overcome their five day disappointment and record their first victory of the tour outside of the warm-up matches.
From the perspective of both sides, the ODI series serves as a clean slate. New, fresh faces will join either side and will, hopefully, inject a new lease of life into two teams who have endured a very demanding schedule over the past month and a half. It will be interesting to see in particular how the new additions perform in the upcoming series and who will come out on top.
It would be easy to suggest, especially when looking at past statistics for England’s performances in Australia, that the home side are out and out favourites heading into the forthcoming series. However, the current England squad are a very different side to the one that that toured down under three years ago. Since their early exit from that 2015 ICC World Cup, failing to make it out of the group stages after losing to Bangladesh, England’s limited overs side has gone from strength to strength, with impressive performances both at home and abroad, as well as breaking numerous records across the board. Their ODI squad welcomes back a wealth of batting and bowling talent, from big hitters such as Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler, as well as highly acclaimed bowling in the form of Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid, both of whom many believed should have been given an opportunity during the Test series, particularly considering the latter’s success in Australia albeit in the Big Bash League (BBL). Similarly, the switch to the shorter format of the game sees Morgan return to the role of captain, allowing Joe Root to focus solely on his batting after a physically and mentally challenging test series.
Having had a successful summer the England team can head into the series with a certain degree of confidence, however there are still plenty of questions surrounding who will make the tourists final XI. Following the controversy at the end of the summer and the subsequent absence of Hales and Ben Stokes, England have been left with somewhat of a conundrum when it comes to their opening partnership. Roy’s lean run of form during and preceding the Champions Trophy led to him being dropped in favour of Jonny Bairstow who seized his opportunity and earned his place at the top of the order. However, after the inclusion of Roy in the final two games of the summer in the absence of Roy, he too performed well posing a difficult decision for the selectors for Australia. England will have to take into consideration a multitude of factors throughout the series and rotation might be the answer, Roy having struggled for form in the BBL, Hales having not played since September and Bairstow having had a busy Test schedule.
Similarly, the continued absence of Stokes continues to pose problems for the touring side. Stokes, across the formats, has been an essential part of England’s armour over the past few years and his omission from the team means the loss of a talented bowler, batsman and an exceptional fielder. Dawid Malan, England’s leading run scorer in the Test series, has been chosen as his replacement in the squad, however England will have to decide whether they need to bolster their batting or bowling line-up with no like for like replacement for the dynamic all-rounder. That being said, however, England can boast a wealth of talent across their squad, with Morgan having shown his class in the t10 tournament in December and Buttler putting on a sensational innings of 67 off just 41 balls in the BBL. Similarly Sam Billings, a player who on occasion has made the starting XI but has, thus fair, failed to secure a permanent spot within the side, offered a timely reminder of his credentials with a substantial last-match knock for the Sydney Sixers in the BBL. Plunkett is another player who seems to have gone from strength to strength over the past few years and his form, particularly in England, has contributed significantly to England’s winning ways. His pace will be crucial to contend with Australia’s strong seam attack which he is fully capable of doing.
For Australia, they will be looking to carry forward their momentum from the test series into their ODI side. Like their English counterparts, Australia are also welcoming some fresh faces back into the side and it will be interesting to see if they can pick up where their test players left off. Of course, like England, Australia have retained a number of their test players in their ODI squad and perhaps their biggest challenge will be ensuring the continued fitness of those players throughout the series. There are already some big injury doubts within the side, Mitchell Starc missed a test match through injury, whilst Pat Cummins has been plagued by injury throughout his career. As key components of the bowling line-up, particularly Starc who has come to play a significant role across the formats for Australia, they will be significant losses if, indeed, they are sidelined by injury. Similarly in terms of the batting and captaincy Steve Smith and his long-term issues with his back is always a lingering concern for Australian fans. Even before the series has started the home side has lost a significant player to injury, Chris Lynn the star of the BBL and danger batsman who can swing the bat hard from ball one has been sidelined due to a calf injury. Lynn, though relatively inexperienced at international level, will be a big loss for the Australian side as a dangerous up and coming player who can take a game away from a side. However his placement, Cameron White, is equally as threatening, having enjoyed a successful BBL campaign with three scores of over 50 under his belt, warranting him his place amongst big hitters such as David Warner and Aaron Finch.
Whilst Australia will be feeling a level of confidence following such a successful test campaign, they will also be wary of the change in format at the new challenges England’s limited overs side face. The last time these two sides met was in the Champions Trophy in the summer of 2017, with England securing a convincing win of 40 runs thanks to the batting of Morgan and Stokes and the bowling of Mark Wood and Rashid. It was the first time that since 2015 that Australia had faced the rejuvenated England side and proved that the two sides are much closer in ability than they were three years ago.
On paper it is difficult to separate the two sides. Both are exceptionally dynamic, particularly in the batting department and have proven over the past few years that they are a force to be reckoned with on the international stage. Australia v England really is the competition of the big hitters and both bowling line-ups will be put under immense pressure to try and regain control of the game, which could be the deciding factor between the two sides. As is always the case between England and Australia, these two rivals are fiercely competitive and none more so than when facing each other, which promises a fiery, fiercely competitive and hard fought series between the two sides. With each team building towards next year’s World Cup it will be interesting to see who comes out on top at the end of the series, with both sides certainly having the capacity to do so.