Cameron White will lead Australia in the first T20 international against England at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, January 12. Australia will have to do a lot if they want to redeem themselves in front of the Australian public and the cricket lovers all around the world, after they were humiliated at home in the recently concluded Test series. >
They lost 3-1, with all three losses being innings defeats.
However, the shorter version of the game should suit Australia more than it does England. Many of the players who were part of the Australian Test set up have given way to the limited overs specialists. Only Mitchell Johnson, Steve Smith and Shane Watson remain from the Test squad.>
In contrast, the majority of the England squad find themselves in the T20 squad as well. Paul Collingwood, who announced his retirement from the longer version of the game after the Ashes, will lead the T20 champions.
Australia will be attuned to the format because most of their players have been actively involved in the T20 Big Bash. However, their main problem could lie in their bowling department. Johnson had two good spells in the four Tests he played in the summer, and was very expensive in all the other games.
Brett Lee hasn’t had much of international cricket in recent times. They will have to rely on the pace of Shaun Tait who has done well in the last few games he has played.
The batting looks explosive. David Warner and Shane Watson should open the batting and should be followed by White, David Hussey, Tim Paine, Smith and Steve O’ Keefe. They will be reliant on their batsmen to bail them out.
England have got a very experienced squad. The core of the team that won the T20 World Cup remains and will be tough to beat. But their real problem will be to shift their game after having played Test cricket for a long time. However, they shouldn’t be facing much of a problem in that.
Australia will want revenge for a lot of things and their bowlers need to come good if they are going to come anywhere closer to beating this strong England team.



What's your take? Write a comment (0 comments)