England vs Australia: 5 players to look forward to in the ODI series

Australian cricket has hit rock bottom off late with the ball-tampering scandal that shook the world of cricket.

The involvement of senior players like Steven Smith, David Warner damaged their reputations as they were handed lengthy bans.

Australia will be looking to move on from those events. They will be without their best players, Steven Smith and David Warner for at least one year. Tim Paine has been appointed the new skipper, in place of Steven Smith.

Their former head coach Darren Lehmann, stepped down after the ball-tampering fiasco. He has been replaced by Justin Langer and will be assisted by Ricky Ponting for the tour to England.

And in a recent development, Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland stepped down from his position.

Australia will look to put the events of recent times behind them and start afresh. A complete upheaval in their leadership is what this team requires to regain lost reputation and respect.

They are scheduled to play a five-match ODI series followed by a one-off T20I against England in England. This would give them ideal opportunity to prepare for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup.

With almost all their big names out either due to injury, the side touring England have many fresh faces, who would use this series an opportunity to cement their place in the squad for the ICC World Cup.

With a new coach, new captain and a relatively new looking team, how well will Australia compete against the hosts England? Here’s looking at 5 players to look forward in the upcoming ODI series starting June 13, 2018.

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#1 Joe Root

England’s prolific batsman Joe Root would look at this series to dominate the opposition. In what is mini ashes series, Root would want to convert starts into big scores against a relatively inexperienced and untested Australian bowling line up.

One major issue with Root is his conversion rate. He gets off to good starts and doesn’t convert it to hundreds as often he or his team would like. That’s one area where he lags in comparison to his competitors such as Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steven Smith.

Looking at the Australian bowling which would feature in the upcoming five-match ODI series, Root would want to bat and score big. It’s a very good opportunity for him to strengthen his position as England’s frontline batsman.

With Eoin Morgan leading the side, Root wouldn’t have the extra burden of captaining the side.

A batsman with 4451 runs in 107 ODI’s with an outstanding average of 51.16, Root would have the added responsibility of binding the batting order together, with the likes of Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes missing from the team due to injury.

#2 Tim Paine

Tim Paine will look to usher in a new era as the captain of Australia

Australian cricket has faced lot of problems in recent times. The ball-tampering scandal shook the cricketing world and brought down Australia’s reputation. The spirit in which they play the sport has been questioned and even mocked by cricket viewers across the globe.

Amidst all this chaos, Tim Paine the wicketkeeper-batsman, who made his return to the national side recently, had to take over the mantle as the captain of the test match and ODI team, post the bans imposed on Smith and Warner.

Paine will look at heralding a new chapter in Australian cricket where they look to repair lost reputation through their behaviour and also through the kind of cricket one associates with Australia usually.

His first stint as the captain of the ODI team would be the upcoming ODI series against a strong, formidable England team playing in their home conditions.

Not only would he need to rally his troops, but he would have to usher in a fresh start for the team post the ball tampering scandal.

Paine is a useful batsman who can add some valuable runs in the middle order. He is pretty safe behind the stumps as well. He would be looking at proving his worth as a player, starting with this tour to England.

#3 Jos Buttler

With his innovative technique, Buttler is a threat to any bowling attack in the world

Jos Buttler is the face of the English resurrection in the ODI and T20 formats. After the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015, England completely transformed the way they play and approach their game.

The attacking, flamboyant brand of cricket is embodied by players like Buttler, Ben Stokes who have embraced these versions of the game and have modeled their game accordingly. Their popularity is pretty evident by the amount they went for at the IPL auctions.

Buttler is a multi-dimensional cricketer. A fine wicketkeeper, whose innovative batting style makes him a big threat for any opposition, Buttler can attack from the word go. The use of his wrists is his biggest strength.

He is among the few batsmen in the modern era who can change the course of the game with his finishing abilities.

With Stokes and Chris Woakes not available for the bulk of the Australia ODI series, Buttler will look at an opportunity to come in higher up the order and add to his tally of 2816 ODI runs.

With a depleted Australian bowling attack sans their stars Patt Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc, this is an ideal opportunity for Buttler to impose himself on the Aussies and dominate them.

#4 Andrew Tye

Andrew Tye had a very fruitful IPL season

Australia’s bowling attack for the upcoming ODI series against England will be spearheaded by Kane Richardson who will be supported by the likes of Andrew Tye, Billy Stanlake and Michel Neser.

One bowler who will look to establish himself in the ODI side ahead of the World Cup in 2019 would be Tye.

The speedster has been looked at mainly being a T20 specialist. His bowling and confidence has improved in recent times. He had been impressive in the triangular T20 series featuring England and New Zealand.

What would give Australia a big push would be Andrew Tye’s fabulous season for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the eleventh edition of the IPL which concluded recently. Tye ended up getting the purple cap for grabbing the most wickets in the season.

He was very impressive with his variations, especially his knuckleball which he has perfected.

Batsmen are aware that the knuckleball is his strength but still he is able to deceive them. Tim Paine would hope Andrew Tye can continue his IPL form into this ODI series.

What would be interesting would be to see what kind of role Tye is given in this inexperienced side.

Will he be used in his usual role which is to come in at the death overs to curb the run flow or will be given more responsibility considering the inexperience in the bowling line-up?

#5 Adil Rashid

Adil Rashid is England's go-to bowler when they need wickets

Adil Rashid is someone who Morgan uses when it comes to putting the brakes on the scoring rate or when to break an important partnership.

Among the more prominent reasons for England’s rise as an ODI team since the ICC World Cup in 2015 has been the performance of their spinners Rashid and Moeen Ali.

Rashid decided to forego red ball cricket, in order to dedicate himself to ODI and T20 cricket. He is a limited overs specialist who mixes up his deliveries very effectively. His stock ball is the sharp turning leg-spinner but his googly is equally effective and hard to pick.

Rashid is more than capable of scoring runs down the batting order, and he is a very dependable fieldsman. That makes a complete package; something modern day ODI teams are looking for.

He would be looked at as a wicket-taking option and with Woakes injured, he would be in-charge of the bowling line-up for this series- a responsibility he is more than willing to take on.

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Which of these players will have the most impact in the ODI series? Sound off your opinion in the comments section below!