Australia ODI captain Pat Cummins has won the toss and chose to field in his first ODI as captain. The first of a three-match ODI series against England kick-starts ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 preparations for both the teams days after the conclusion of ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
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Knocked out of a home T20 World Cup in a disappointing manner, Cummins mentioned that the team has freshened up a lot to take up the ODI challenge now. Having said that, Australia have made three key changes to their Playing XI for this match at the Adelaide Oval.
“Looks like a really good wicket that will stay the same throughout. We’ve had a good freshen up the last week. [Alex] Carey at 5, [Marcus] Stoinis at 6, [Cameron] Green at 7, two spinners, [Ashton] Agar and [Adam] Zampa, [Mitchell] Starc and myself,” Cummins told Fox Sports at the toss.
Why is Joe Root not playing vs Australia today?
Much like the hosts, England have also made quite a few changes to their ODI Playing XI. Although captain Jos Buttler got what he wanted from the toss despite losing it, he will be leading a comparatively inexperienced XI on Thursday.
In all-rounders Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes and spinner Adil Rashid, the visitors have rested four of their T20 World Champions for this match. As a result, pacer Luke Wood has been handed an ODI in spite of his limited List A experience. Pacer Chris Jordan, an experienced campaigner otherwise, is playing his first ODI in more than 33 months.
A primary reason why former England Test captain Joe Root and batter Liam Livingstone are not playing this match is because they are preparing for the forthcoming Test tour of Pakistan. Root, who isn’t part of the T20I squad, wasn’t made to travel to Australia for just three ODIs. Livingstone, on the other hand, returned back after his successful participation in the T20 World Cup.
