Australia to tour England for limited-overs series in September

Australia will tour England for a limited-overs series in September this year, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed on Friday (August 14). Earlier, both boards had officially postponed the initial series in July due to the coronavirus global pandemic.

Both teams will play a 3-match T20I series from September 4 to September 8 in Southampton. They will then move to Manchester to play 3 ODIs from September 11 and September 16. As per the UK Government’s guidelines, people entering the UK from Australia do not have to quarantine on arrival.

“We owe a significant debt of gratitude to the players, staff and administrators of Cricket Australia for their efforts in getting this tour underway. Their co-operation to ensure these matches are staged is crucial to cricket in this country. It will also provide much-needed financial aid at all levels of cricket in England and Wales as we work through the challenges in front of us,” ECB CEO Tom Harrison said.

Maxwell, Stoinis return

Cricket Australia has named a 21-man squad including uncapped players Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith and Josh Philippe. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis are back in the ODI squad for the first time since the 2019 World Cup in England. Aaron Finch will lead the side while Pat Cummins will play deputy in place of Alex Carey.

In July, CA had named a preliminary 26-man squad, of which five players have had to face the axe. Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Ben McDermott, Michael Nesser and D’Arcy Short are not part of the 21-man party.

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

The Australian contingent will reach their biosecure base in Derbyshire on August 24. They will then travel to Southampton on August 27. They will play an intra-squad 50-over game first, followed by three T20 practice matches before the series begins.

With the tour ending on September 16, players from both teams are likely to miss a couple of games in the IPL beginning on September 19 in the UAE. Upon arrival, they will have to spend six days in isolation before they can participate in the tournament.