Key events
Teams!
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jamie Smith (wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Matt Potts, 11 Adil Rashid.
Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitch Marsh (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Matt Short, 8 Aaron Hardie, 9 Sean Abbott, 10 Ben Dwarshuis, 11 Adam Zampa.
Archer tells Athers that he is sort of thinking about making the Ashes but the most important thing is today. He doesn’t know Brook well but says the new skip is a really nice guy and they’ve been chatting a lot this week.
Oh, Reece Topley is ill so Matt Potts plays.
Stuart Broad, dressed down in jacket-coat affair, rhapsodises Duckett who he thinks is now one of the best limited-overs players in the world. I’m looking forward to seeing how he, and the rest of England’s top four, do on a belter that comes with inviting short boundaries.
Full XIs to come, but Australia have had some illness in the camp and Glen Maxwell is missing.
Mitch Marsh says Australia would’ve bowled and that Benny Dwarshius, “an incredible talent”, makes his d’boo. He’s trying to teach his players the importance of enjoying playing, especially in England where the crowds are big, then notes that Zampa, winning his hundredth ODI cap, is a “beautiful human being”. You’d take that as a reference, eh?
England win the toss and will bat
Harry Brook wants to put pressure on Australia by racking up a big score. Ben Duckett’s playing, likewise Liam Livingstone.
Toss time…
England are playing Australia #PeripateticLawnmower
Also, what is it with sport and banal, frequently hashtagged phrases that don’t actually make sense? Send in your favourites…
🎟️ The FAW is expecting an allocation of approximately 1,000 tickets to be available for #TheRedWall when @Cymru face Iceland in Reykjavik next month.
Preliminary information on the process is available on the FAW website👇#TogetherStronger
— FA WALES (@FAWales) September 16, 2024
What’s the latest into autumn it’s acceptable to wear shorts? I’m a November or so man, but with the cricket going so deep, perhaps that needs revising down – or up – to December.
Cricinfo report that Phil Salt has presented Bethell with his England cap, so he’ll be making his debut today; lovely stuff.
If i’m not mistaken, this call comes from the Guardian’s Adam Collins. Imagine the aggro Worrall, in the process of converting from Australia to England, will get at the Gabba when – and it does feel like a when – he’s selected for an Ashes tour.
Of course there’s plenty more going on. England, captained by Harry Brook, are in transition, with Jacob Bethell a particularly tasty new option, while Australia also have various new and newish faces in their squad – most notably Mahli Beardman. Add to that the old rivalries, most notably Archer v Smith, and there’s plenty to distract us from whatever else we’re supposed to be doing.
Preamble
Every now and then, sport offers up an individual story that transcends its principal aspect: who wins and who loses. “Not hard,” I hear you snark, given the particularly peculiar nature of this contest, but bear with me.
Though we may be suspicious of what these matches are all about, our excitement – and trepidation – reflects not that, rather the brilliance of Jofra Archer and how much we’ve missed him and it in the time we’ve been bereft of them. But finally, after 18 months away, England’s best bowler is back, likewise the exhilaration of somehow being shocked by pace and lift we know are coming.
Australia, though, are as good as ever, reigning world champions with their own superstar bowler in Adam Zampa, playing his hundredth ODI. They’ll be ready for whatever Archer can throw at them and, in Travis Head, have one of cricket’s most destructive batters in terrific nick.
Which is to say that, while we may have misgivings about what we’re shortly to enjoy, its essentials could not be more compelling: England are playing Australia and Archer is back. This is going to be good.
Play: 12.30pm BST
