Australia vs England Preview: England looking to reverse tables against Australia

Australia's fast-bowlers decimated England when the two sides met at Lord's.

Australia are a team who should look rattled. They are playing the hosts and favourites in a semi‑final at a supposed fortress. Awaiting in the World Cup final at Lord’s are New Zealand, who should have beaten them at the same venue a couple of weeks ago but for a rearguard from the first drop, Usman Khawaja. Now Khawaja is gone with a hamstring strain and, Shaun Marsh, who was his backup, has a broken wrist from a training mishap. Marcus Stoinis has more torn muscles than a butcher’s shop but the all-rounder is supposedly going to play. The squad have two new players and a third in the wings.

But Australia don’t look rattled at all. They look, to take the captain Aaron Finch’s description of his coach Justin Langer, “quite chilled out and zen”. Not just because of their barefoot wanderings around cricket grounds that attracted perhaps an outsized amount of mirth from local media but because they’ve been able to absorb their various mishaps with barely a tremor, and because their campaign is one in which things have largely fallen happily into place.

Australia’s squad actually look more balanced and powerful for the new inclusions. Peter Handscomb should have been part of it all along, with his ability to play the accumulation role through the middle of an innings but also to go up the gears towards the end. He has been a middle-order specialist in 20-over cricket and played the role to perfection, and broke through for his first ODI century just a few games before the World Cup began.

As for the former wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, he has been in the form of his life across all formats in the past year and a fortnight ago set a record for the fastest Australian century in a professional 50-over match. Both he and Handscomb were already in England playing one-day cricket against county sides with Australia A, a long-planned insurance policy for the World Cup that has now been thoroughly drawn on.

No matter Australia came into the World Cup without the blue-chip bowling variety of India or the batting supercharge of England, they have been able to find a way almost every time. Even slipping up against South Africa in the final group game, which looked at the time like a result that Australia might rue, may have worked in their favour. By slipping from top spot on the table they avoided the partial washout and subsequent two day semi final in Manchester, where anything could have happened.

Of course, Edgbaston could also have its weather problems, or if England get the right pitch to bat on then it could be raining sixes. But fundamentally the pressure is all on England to live up to the standard they have set over the past four years. Eoin Morgan’s team have built their approach on fearlessness but fear is more durable in some environments than others. England have the home crowd to disappoint, the dream to be dashed, the long winless run to either break or be broken by.

Coming up against Australia, too, has its own special piquancy. As the two oldest combatants in Test cricket, the fact Australia have historically been so far ahead in the one-day format has long galled those in the British Isles. It was England’s demolition of Australia across home and away tours in 2018 that really convinced a lot of followers that Morgan’s team were the real deal. But against Australia at Lord’s at this World Cup the worst England showed up: tentative, stuttering, lacking all fluency. A green and gold uniform is the demon England have to exorcise. They should be glad that Australia were not in the other semi-final stumbling against New Zealand, because a World Cup win in which Australia went unbeaten wouldn’t really have felt like the real thing.

For Australia, contending for a World Cup is very much business as usual. It may have been a tactical statement from Finch to casually mention winning four of the past five tournaments in his preview press conference, or it may have been just a statement of fact he didn’t think twice about. Winning is part of the furniture and, even after the varied humiliations of Australian cricket’s last year and a half, here they are among the final three contenders for another prize. WATCH OUT FOR -Mitch Starc

Mitchell Starc has been in career best form so far in this World Cup.

Mitchell Starc has all but wrapped up the leading wicket-taker award for the second consecutive time, and in doing so will be the first bowler in history to have done so twice. Currently 8 wickets clear of his nearest rival (still in the competition) in Lockie Ferguson, it is hard to see how he could be chased down. A couple of wickets here will all but wrap it up. But he isn’t here for individual glory. In Starc, Australia have three bowlers in one. A dangerous new-ball bowler, equally adept to swinging it at the stumps as well as using his pace to unsettle nervous opening batsmen. Then there is the economic middle overs bowler, but the best of the three Starc’s is unleashed, the brutal death bowler who will take lower-order wickets for fun. If Starc can make an impact at either end of the innings, Australia may just find themselves in yet another World Cup final.

PREDICTION

It's a big risk to take, but I do think Australia will get over the line here. Roy and Bairstow have played a fantastic campaign, but they trail Warner and Finch in terms of runs scored. The injury to Khawaja means Smith moves to 3, his preferred batting position, and with Handscomb or Wade coming into the side, suddenly Australia’s batting depths look deep. Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff and Starc are genuine fast bowlers as well as swing bowlers, and then there is the ever economic and wicket taking threat in Nathan Lyon. For England, they will need to post near 300, or be expected to chase that many, and it all depends on their opening partnership. With ball in hand, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer have been good, but they struggled against the Australian’s at Lord’s. If they learn from their mistakes and actually threaten the stumps while the ball is moving, perhaps they will push for a World Cup victory. Time will tell.

Australia to win by 30-40 runs / 3-4 wickets

STATISTICS HEAD TO HEAD ODI

Matches: 148

Australia: 82

England: 61

Tied: 2

N/R: 3

HEAD TO HEAD IN WORLD CUPS

Matches: 8

Australia: 6

England: 2

WORLD CUP RECORDS

Australia

Matches: 93

Won: 69

Lost: 22

Tie: 1

Best Result - Winners (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015)

England

Matches: 80

Won: 46

Lost: 32

Best Result- Runners Up (1979, 1987, 1992)

ODI Record since World Cup 2015: Australia

Matches: 85

Won: 44 Lost: 38

England

Matches: 96

Won: 63

Lost: 26