Champions Trophy: Injury-hit Australia kicks off campaign against an out of sorts England

England batter Joe Root at a practice session on Friday ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy match against Australia in Lahore.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The build-up to the Champions Trophy has been far from perfect for England and Australia. While Australia suffered a blow with three of its top bowlers – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc – being ruled out of the tournament, England comes in on the back of an ODI series defeat to India.

Since its disastrous World Cup campaign in 2023, the Jos Buttler-led England side hasn’t won an ODI series, and it looked out of sorts during the recently-concluded series against India, which it lost 0-3.

Australia, too, lost its last two series – against Sri Lanka and Pakistan – and when the two teams meet at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday in the ICC event, they will be hoping to start afresh.

“We expect a really tough challenge,” said Buttler. “England and Australia – there’s always a great rivalry and (it will be) a competitive match. In the Champions Trophy format, each game is really a massive game…”

England has included promising wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith, who has the backing of the team management, and is set to bat at No. 3. On a surface that’s likely to favour the batters, England will expect Ben Duckett to come good, while Joe Root will be the backbone of the batting department. In the series against India, both Duckett and Root enjoyed success, and they would be hoping to keep the momentum going.

For Australia, the onus will be on captain Steve Smith. Coming in at No.3, he will have to spearhead the batting unit, while Travis Head – the hero of the World Cup final in 2023 – needs to be in his zone. With England coming in with a three-member pace attack, comprising Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Brydon Carse, it will be interesting to see how Australia handles the pressure.

The teams:

Australia (from): Steve Smith (Capt.), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.

England (playing XI):  Jos Buttler (Capt.), Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.