In one sense the five-match ODI series between England and Australia that starts in Nottingham on Thursday is slightly lacking in wider context. Part of a trend that has seen previously lengthy visits by India and Australia broken up by way of format and spread out across the four-year cycle, it feels designed to simply keep the “Big Three” energy burning in between marquee Test summers.
Although the rivalry endures, tickets have been shifted despite autumn’s creep, and for Harry Brook, there is a bit more on it still. For one, Brook has had a slightly underwhelming international season by way of runs, not least that restless double failure against Sri Lanka at the Oval. And then on top of the chance to bank more experience against Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood before Bazball’s moonshot Ashes tour in 2025/26, there is this opportunity to further his captaincy knowhow with a similar eye on the future.
Ollie Pope was operating in tight parameters when in temporary charge of the Test side against Sri Lanka – the template very much set by Ben Stokes – but for Brook, the licence is arguably greater. Brendon McCullum does not start as England’s all-format overlord until January – Marcus Trescothick is interim head coach until then – and Jos Buttler, out of the series with a calf injury, has not exactly overseen a well-oiled machine this past year or so. For Brook, it is a case of ushering in the McCullum ethos before the full-blown takeover.
“It’s all going to merge into one at some point,” said Brook, whose captaincy to date includes England Under-19s, a fill-in role for Yorkshire in T20s and Northern Superchargers in the Hundred. “We’re going to have the same principles [so it is a case of] trying to put that forward to the team already before Baz takes over.
“Me and Tres [Trescothick] are both on the same page to Baz, we want to go out there and entertain the crowd, take the game on, try to take wickets and put the pressure on their bowlers. And in the field, chase down every ball and just try to influence the game as much as you can.”
Like the squad that drew 1-1 in the T20s over the weekend, this is a rebooted England team for what is their first five-match ODI series since before the 2019 World Cup. And as well as giving a chance to wunderkinds like Jacob Bethell, it also sees the personnel start to overlap more with the Test set-up. Of the 16 players, seven will tour Pakistan next month – dates and venues still to be confirmed – and like the Test set-up, there is also a clear push to deepen the stable of fast bowlers. There are seven, with Jofra Archer very much the headliner here.
This will be Archer’s first List-A match in 18 months and, after an exclusive diet of four-over spells, continues what is an incremental path towards a Test return next year. Brook said there are no pre-set limits on Archer’s in-game workloads, albeit the likes of Olly Stone, Saqib Mahmood and the uncapped John Turner – i.e. the other slippery quicks among the seven – signpost England’s intention to rotate throughout the series.
England (possible): Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Harry Brook (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Reece Topley
Australia (possible): Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Mitch Marsh (c), Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Australia, World Cup holders and on a run of 12 straight wins, have brought over a pretty strong cast. Pat Cummins is resting before the Border-Gavaskar mega-clash at home and, to the dismay of his English chums on the boundary’s edge, David Warner has now retired. But Starc and Hazlewood make it two of the big three seamers on tour, Steve Smith returns with Marnus Labuschagne once again Scrappy to his Scooby-Doo, while Adam Zampa, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell are similarly all champions.
There are some young tyros to keep an eye on also. Jake Fraser-McGurk offered a glimpse of his double-barrelled threat with an incendiary 31-ball 50 in Cardiff last Friday, while Cooper Connolly, who sounds as if he should be lining up at five-eighth for a Sydney NRL franchise, but in fact hails from the other side of the Barassi Line in Western Australia, is another promising young batter. One or both may yet have to wait for their chance, however, as Australia look to keep a good thing going against an England side starting out once more.
