Australia are set to begin their tour of England with the 1st T20I at Southampton later today.
England are coming into the series on the back of a defeat to Pakistan at Manchester less than a week ago. Despite the loss, England are one of the most balanced and dangerous teams in the shortest format of the game and have the likes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Sam Curran in their 15-man squad for this T20I series. Captain Eoin Morgan will be looking to find a much stable line-up for his T20 side as England look to prepare for the T20 World Cup set to take place in 2021.
Australia arrive in this series with a quietly formidable side, with the likes of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Stark who would arguably make the lineup in any team in the world. Spin duo Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar are also present in the team and would be eager to work their magic on the field. As far as the batting department is concerned for Australia, it surely does not get better than Aaron Finch, David Warner and Steven Smith as your top order.
Form guide
England LWWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WLWWW
England (possible): 1. Jonny Bairstow, 2. Jos Buttler (wk), 3. Tom Banton / Dawid Malan, 4. Eoin Morgan (capt), 5. Moeen Ali, 6. Sam Billings, 7. Sam Curran, 8. Chris Jordan, 9. Jofra Archer, 10. Adil Rashid, 11. Mark Wood / Tom Curran
Australia (possible): 1. Aaron Finch (capt), 2. David Warner, 3. Steven Smith, 4. Glenn Maxwell, 5. Mitchell Marsh, 6. Alex Carey, 7. Ashton Agar, 8. Adam Zampa, 9. Pat Cummins, 10. Mitchell Starc, 11. Kane Richardson
Pitch and conditions
Australia have been more than happy with the warm-up surfaces for their intra-squad contests at the Ageas Bowl, and Aaron Finch said he was expecting decent scores on a strip with good carry. A bright Friday evening is in prospect in Southampton, which augurs well for another entertaining clash.
On paper both teams have lineups filled with World-Cup winners and superstars of the T20 format. However, when these two sides meet it is almost impossible to pick out a clear winner, but one aspect that we could predict is that the quality of cricket and the aggression on display would be second to none.
