England search for answers against impressive world champions
Written by I Dig Sports
Big Picture
Australia have played like world champions, England have played like a team that has only just come together and are trying to figure out their next style of one-day cricket. Which is exactly the position of both sides.In both matches, Australia have found key performances from potentially unlikely sources, firstly with Marnus Labuschagne's three wickets then Carey's superb 74 off 67 balls from an opening that only presented itself due to Josh Inglis' injury.
However, at the moment they seem unable to quite find their groove, especially with the bat, with Brook's comments about not caring whether batters are caught attempting to clear the boundary not yet carrying the weight of when Eoin Morgan backed his team's ultra-aggressive mantra in 2015. There is time yet for the rebuild to come together; Chester-le-Street would be a good place to start to at least ensure this series remains undecided for a few more days.
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)England LLLWL
Australia WWWWW
In the spotlight: Phil Salt and Steven Smith
Phil Salt appears to have the task of playing the ultra-aggressive opener but he hasn't looked entirely convincing in the first two matches. At Trent Bridge he seemed somewhat perplexed when bowled as he gave himself room against Ben Dwarshuis then at Headingley he was given a working over by Josh Hazlewood. He survived a review for a caught behind and was dropped at slip as he flayed at Hazlewood's relentless short-of-a-length line around off stump before edging through to Carey. He will, no doubt, be fully backed to continue in the same vein but Australia's quick bowlers are not easy to smash off their lengths.Team news: Archer in line for return, Australia hopeful illness has passed
Archer would appear likely to slot back in having been given his expected rest at Headingley. Who he replaces will be interesting: Olly Stone bowled with good pace in Leeds, Potts was excellent and Carse adds some batting depth at No. 8. England felt potentially a seamer light in the last game, but without a true pace-bowling allrounder it's hard to squeeze another option in.
England: (possible) 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jamie Smith (wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Matthew Potts
Ben Dwarshuis has flown home after picking up a pectoral injury which restricted him to just four overs on debut in Nottingham. However, other than that Australia are hopeful of having a full squad to select from for the first time in the series. If Inglis is fit it creates an interesting call to make after Carey's success in the last match. Inglis could play as a specialist batter, but there isn't room for that, either, unless there's some rotation. The north of England in September may require an extra pace-bowling option with Cameron Green and Sean Abbott available.
Australia: (possible) 1 Travis Head, 2 Matthew Short, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Steven Smith, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Aaron Hardie, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Adam Zampa
Pitch and conditions
Teams were forced to train indoors on Monday but the forecast for game day is a little better, albeit with the chance of showers. To say it will be mild might be stretching things. Overhead conditions could assist the bowlers although pitches at Chester-le-Street are usually pretty good for batting in one-day cricket.Stats and trivia
- Starc needs one more wicket to move into fourth spot alone in Australia's ODI tally. He equalled Mitchell Johnson on 239 during the previous game.
- England have two ODI centuries in the XI which played at Trent Bridge - one apiece for Duckett and Salt - while Australia had 28.
- England have a 3-1 winning record at Chester-le-Street against Australia. In 2018, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh struck centuries but England comfortably chased 311 as Jason Roy made 101 off 83 balls. Only three players from that game will likely appear this time: Carey, Travis Head and Adil Rashid
Quotes
"There have been big changes, new batters, new bowlers. It will take time. It will always take time when it is a rebuilding process. We have got every base covered in terms of bowling, batting, keeping. Everything is there for us."
Adil Rashid on England's new era
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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