PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia captain Mitch Marsh won the toss and sent England in to bat in the series-opening one-day cricket international on Friday that has been overshadowed by the reignition of the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal.
Less than four hours before the toss, Australia test captain Pat Cummins held a news conference in Sydney and described claims in Usman Khwaja’s autobiography released this week as “complete and utter nonsense.”
Marsh said the first of three ODIs and five Twenty20 internationals against England was setting up a big 12 months for Australia that included a home test series against New Zealand, tours to India and England and a World Cup in South Africa next year.
“It’s the start of the summer for us (and) that first game is always important,” he said.
Australia’s squad for the white-ball series is missing front-line pace bowlers Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland. Instead Xaiver Bartlett, left-armer Spencer Johnson and 21-year-old Mahli Beardman will be in the bowling attack.
Beardman, who is from Western Australia, will be getting his first taste of international cricket.
“It’s going to be exciting for him. No better place in the world for a young West Australian to debut,” Marsh said. “We've got a reasonably young and inexperienced side, but lots of energy.”
Australia hasn’t played an ODI since last September, a 2-1 series loss to South Africa.
Joe Root will be making his 200th ODI appearance for England, and his skipper Harry Brook said the visitors were more than willing to take on the challenging task of batting first against an Australia lineup that likes to chase on a pitch renowned for favoring pace.
England went into the series opener with four quicks and support from Liam Dawson.
England's squad arrived in Australia on the back of a tri-series in Pakistan, where it lost three games before Ben Duckett and Dawson inspired a 55-run consolation win over Sri Lanka.
It was England’s first ODI win in Pakistan since 2005 and followed some tough defeats. Brook’s fastest-ever ODI double-century wasn’t enough to stop Sri Lanka from achieving the second-highest successful run chase — 430 runs — in the 50-over format.
Pakistan also had a one-wicket win at Lahore and a 87-run win over England at Rawalpindi.
Lineups:
Australia: Mitch Marsh (captain), Travis Head, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis, Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Jack Edwards, Xavier Bartless, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Mahli Beardman.
England: Ben Duckett, Tom Banton, Joe Root, Harry Brook (captain), Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer.
See AP’s full cricket coverage here
FILE - Delhi Capitals' David Warner waves to his fans during the awards ceremony at the end of the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings in Visakhapatnam, India, March. 31, 2024.(AP Photo/ Surjeet Yadav File)
FILE - Australia's Usman Khawaja leaves the ground after losing his wicket during day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle, Sri Lanka, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena File)
