This short tour starts with a T20 against Scotland and three T20s against England. Three ODIs against England will follow, but a different squad for those matches will be announced after the T20s.
NAME | AGE | T20Is |
Aaron FINCH (c) | 33 | 61 |
Travis HEAD (vc) | 26 | 16 |
Ashton AGAR | 26 | 4 |
Alex CAREY | 28 | 28 |
Pat CUMMINS | 27 | 30 |
Glenn MAXWELL | 31 | 61 |
Josh PHILIPPE | 23 | - |
Jhye RICHARDSON | 23 | 9 |
Kane RICHARDSON | 29 | 18 |
D'Arcy SHORT | 29 | 20 |
Steven SMITH | 31 | 39 |
Mitchell STARC | 30 | 31 |
Marcus STOINIS | 30 | 19 |
David WARNER | 33 | 79 |
Adam ZAMPA | 28 | 30 |
Aaron Finch will continue in his role as limited overs captain, with Travis Head now confirmed as the Australian vice captain across all three formats. Josh Philippe is the only uncapped player at the squad. The 23-year old Western Australian can bat anywhere in the top seven and provides wicketkeeping cover for Alex Carey.
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T20I - SCOTLAND
29 June 2020, Edinburgh
Team: Finch*, Carey†, Head, Stoinis, Maxwell, Philippe, Agar, Cummins, Starc, Zampa, K Richardson
Scotland 8/73 (MacLeod 39, Starc 3/12, K Richardson 2/22) defeated Australia 6/107 (Head 41, Main 2/21, Davey 2/24) by two wickets (DLS)
The selectors opted for a well-balanced side with three frontline seam bowlers, two spin bowlers and six batsmen. Josh Philippe made his International debut at number six, with Alex Carey opening alongside Aaron Finch. David Warner and Steve Smith were rested.
Finch one the toss and chose to bat, but Australia’s innings was disastrous. Carey and Finch both fell cheaply and, while Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis put on 68 for the third wicket, when they fell in successive balls Australia collapsed to 6/107 from their twenty overs.
Rain then interrupted and the game and, with two hours lost, Scotland were set a reduced target of 73 from 12 overs. Mitchell Starc was outstanding, striking in each of his three overs to finish with 3/12 but, he wasn’t supported by his teammates or the small total. Cummins aside, the other Australian bowlers went for more than nine an over as Scotland coasted to victory with 11 balls to spare.
While this was little more than a warmup match, there will be concerns about how poor Australia were in all facets of the game.
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FIRST T20I
3 July 2020, North London
Team: Warner, Finch*, Smith, Head, Carey†, Maxwell, Agar, Starc, Cummins, J Richardson, Zampa
England 4/157 (Bairstow 50, Buttler 42) defeated Australia 5/154 (Warner 53, Smith 49*, Willey 2/17)
Warner and Smith returned to the side with Philippe and Stoinis making way, while Jhye Richardson replaced Kane Richardson alongside Starc and Cummins.
Batting first after winning the toss, Finch and Warner got Australia off to a great start taking 66 runs from the power play. Finch was caught behind off Chris Woakes from the first ball of the seventh over for 36, but Smith and Warner continued in the same manner guiding Australia to 1/96 from ten overs. When Adil Rashid removed Warner in the 14th over, Australia collapsed with Carey, Maxwell and Head all struggling to score while Smith stuck at the non-strikers’ end.
Chasing 155, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow got England off to an incredible start. Buttler raced to 42 from just 17 balls before Agar trapped him in front. Decent contributions from Joe Root and Eoin Morgan guided England to 3/111 in the tenth over. Bairstow went past fifty in the 12 over and England eventually coasted to victory in the 17th over with six wickets in hand.
A disappointing start to the series after the even more disappointing loss to Scotland will give Australia a lot to ponder.
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SECOND T20I
5 July 2020, Manchester
Team: Warner, Finch*, Smith, Head, Carey†, Stoinis, Agar, Starc, Cummins, K Richardson, Zampa
England 150 (Root 49, Starc 3/28, Cummins 3/29) defeated Australia 7/139 (Smith 55, Rashid 3/25) by 11 runs
Marcus Stoinis and Kane Richardson replaced Glenn Maxwell and Jhye Richardson who both performed poorly in the previous game. Finch won the toss again but chose to bowl first this time and was immediately rewarded when Cummins removed Bairstow in the second over. England recovered to 1/56 at the end of the power play and had made their way to 2/77 before two wickets in successive balls from Ashton Agar and one each from Richardson and Stoinis to slow the scoring. A late dash from Stokes and Hales got England to 147 in the 17th over before Cummins removed Hales and Starc took 3/1 in his final over to bowl England out for 150.
Australia were very disappointing in response, losing wickets regularly despite several batsmen making decent starts. Steve Smith’s 55 from 44 balls and Alex Carey’s unbeaten 32 from 21 balls were positive as was Mitchell Starc’s late hitting, but Australia finished their 20 overs on 7/139 falling 11 runs short. Adil Rashid’s 3/25 was the standout performance, but Jofra Archer’s 1/22 brought the scoring to a halt in the middle overs. The middle order also needs some attention as losing Head, Stoinis and Agar in a five over spell meant that Australia fell well behind the required scoring rate.
Australia will be very disappointed to have lost the series despite being competitive in both games.
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THIRD T20I
7 July 2020, Leeds
Team: Finch*, Carey†, Head, Short, Philippe, Stoinis, Agar, Starc, Zampa, J Richardson, K Richardson
Australia 4/189 (Short 78*, Head 59, Woakes 3/37) defeated England 7/162 (Morgan 57, Zampa 2/23, Agar 2/39) by 27 runs
With the three match series lost, the selectors opted to rest Warner, Smith and Cummins with D’Arcy Short, Josh Philippe and Jhye Richardson coming into the side. Finch won the toss again and chose to bat first. A tremendous start saw Australia take 50 from the first five overs before Finch and Alex Carey fell in successive balls. Short and Head then put on a tremendous 123-run partnership guiding Australia to 4/189 from their 20 overs with Short unbeaten on 78 from 47 balls.
Starc then removed Buttler first ball and disciplined bowling from the Australians controlled the scoring while continuing to take wickets. That changed in the 15th over though, with Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales blasting 21 and 25 runs in successive overs to take England from 4/95 to 6/140 with three overs remaining. Agar and Starc took control back though and England finished on 7/162, giving Australia victory by 27 runs.
A much better performance with bat and ball, but plenty of work to be done ahead of the World Cup later in the year.
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