Pacer Ben Dwarshuis has been drafted in to make his one-day international debut for illness-struck Australia in the series opener against England at Nottingham.
The 30-year-old Dwarshuis, brought into the squad late last week after Australia’s pace bowling stocks were depleted by injury, gets his chance with both first-choice strike bowlers, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, being unwell.
And Dwarshuis was set to be thrown straight into the fray after England’s new stand-in captain Harry Brook won the toss and decided to bat on a Trent Bridge pitch that appeared to promise plenty of runs.
“Benny Dwarshuis is an incredible talent, he’s played for New South Wales for a long time, won a lot of titles with the Sixers and we’re rapt to see him out there,” said Australia captain Mitch Marsh at the toss.
“We’re gonna have a bat, try and put a little bit of pressure on them in the first innings and get a big score,” said Brook, who is replacing England’s injured white-ball skipper Jos Buttler.
“We were going to have a bowl so we’re quite happy with that,” responded Marsh, who’s overseeing a side hit by illness and injury during the T20 series that was shared 1-1.
“We’ve had a bit of illness, and a few sore boys up at the T20s but that’s international cricket, we move on and we’re ready to go today.”
The in-form Josh Inglis wasn’t considered as he’s recovering from quad soreness sustained while fielding in the T20 match at Cardiff.
Experienced hands Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were back to bolster the ODI team, with spinner Adam Zampa celebrating his 100th ODI cap.
“It’s a fantastic achievement. He’s an unbelievable team member, his career over the last five, six years has been amazing to see,” said Marsh of the leggie.
“He’s certainly our go-to man, a really humble, beautiful human being. So absolutely rapt for him.”
ENGLAND: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Harry Brook (capt), Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Matt Potts, Adil Rashid
AUSTRALIA: Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (capt), Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Matt Short, Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Adam Zampa.
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au