Key events
24th over: England 165-1 (Duckett 75, Jacks 62) Short returns â an 11th bowling change, notes Broad. He reckons itâs a plan to keep England guessing; I wonder if itâs a response to the treatment England are handing out. And thereâs the biggest cheer of the day so far, Jacks stepping away to make room the bowler is seeking to deny him, driving and megging Abbott, whoâs properly having one out there. A wide and two singles complete the over, the only question facing the batters whether to really go after it given how much there is to come, or keep doing what theyâre doing.
23rd over: England 157-1 (Duckett 73, Jacks 57) âIâve just seen the sun come out and thatâll be music to the England battersâ ears,â Colemanballs Broad, relishing the taste of leather on willow. Meantie, Hardie runs in and Jscks unloads the suitcase at his third delivery, edging four over backward point; two singles follow and thatâs a comparatively quiet over, just six coming from it.
22nd over: England 151-1 (Duckett 72, Jacks 52) Eeeeesh, Jacks hauls a pull for two, then when one sits up outside off he makes a cuppa before clouting it to the square-leg fence to raise an impressive fifty. The more I see of this pitch, the more I think Test-match lines and length is whatâs needed her, cramping the batters: anything wide or into the pitch sits up. Thing is, Australia are now bowling at two set batters in nick and, when Duckett takes strike, he strokes through mid-on for four, then gets on top of one that leaps, cross-batting from above the shoulder, into the ground almost like a tennis shot and to the rope at midwicket. Fifteen off the over, Abbottâs five so far disappearing for 50, and Australia are in big trouble. Donât laugh.
21st over: England 136-1 (Duckett 64, Jacks 45) Again, Marsh turns to Hardie, who has now bowled 63 spells in the innings; Jacks takes one to point, then Duckett stands and delivers, planting feet and waiting to lash through cover for four. And look at that, a slower one standing up and Duckett in no mood to miss out, on to it like me at a bag of McCoyâs chilli, humping hard to the fence at midwicket. Nine from the over, and if Australia canât find something, they could be facing a monster â and we know how that can go.
20th over: England 127-1 (Duckett 56, Jacks 44) Abbott returns and begins with a leg-bye. Then, just as this looks like a tighter over, two singles the only addition to the scoring, the fifth ball goes for four leg-byes and a further single means it yields eight; australia badly need a wicket.
19th over: England 119-1 (Duckett 55, Jacks 42) England milk Zampa, whoâs finding it hard â Duckettâs reverse-sweep gave him and Mitch Marsh something to think about because they now need to cover an area they thought they could ignore. So the first four balls of this latest over yield a two and three ones, then Jacks gets his front leg out of the road to muscle four down the ground; in comms, Wardy notes the difficulty of bowling to him, a man who wants to go downtown, and Duckett, eager to whack square. Nine off the over, and Australia are under pressure.
18th over: England 110-1 (Duckett 51, Jacks 37) Green returns and Jacks hoists his first delivery over midwicket for three, then Abbott does really well to scoop Duckettâs pull away from the fence as the batters run two. A single and two more twos follow, the second raising Duckettâs 50, an over that didnât feel expensive going for 10.
âDo you think the Englush dressing room refer to our Mr Duckworth as âDuckyâ?â returns Deano the Deanmeister.
I assume so, though fear weâll never again enjoy the halcyon days of Cooky, Straussy, Trotty, KP-y, Colly, Belly, Matty, Brezzy, Swanny, Broady and Jimmy.
17th over: England 100-1 (Duckett 46, Jacks 32) In this next passage, Iâd expect England to up the pressure on Australiaâs young attack, and after Jacks takes one, Duckett is down the pitch and down on one knee to reverse-sweep Zampa for four; he really got hold of that. A one-hander for one follows, one more to Jacks raises the fifty partnership, and two more singles close out another good over for England; Zampa has gone for 18 in his two overs thus far.
16th over: England 91-1 (Duckett 40, Jacks 29) Itâs a nice suffix, the â-oâ on the end of things. In Ghana, if youâre especially grateful, you might say âThank you-oâ rather than just âThank youâ, which I reckon would work just as well with insults: âYour mum-o,â for example. Cricket, neologisms, itâs all going on here. And itâs all going on in the middle too, Hardie â back into the attack and the pick of the bowlers so far â rattling through another over for the cost of just two singles. Thatâs drinks, England going but not getting away.
15th over: England 89-1 (Duckett 39, Jacks 28) Zampa into the attack and this might be the key moment of the innings; England start well, Duckett turning to midwicket before Jacks extends arms and front leg to mash six down the ground. Two singles follow, and thatâs nine off the over, the partnership 42 off 44.
14th over: England 80-1 (Duckett 37, Jacks 21) I know England are looking to the future â Iâm enjoying it â but are we really saying Joe Root isnât one of their best 50-over batters? I, for one, am not, now that you ask. I get leaving him out to prolong his Test career, if thatâs what this is, but I still want him in my team, and Iâm pretty sure heâd be good at milking Green, running in and bowling a tight line as I type. In the event, he cedes three singles garnished with consecutive wides, and Australia could really use another wicket.
âHi Danno,â begins Deano Kinsella, and I canât pretend this game of Australianising names isnât appealing to me â Iâm looking forward to Robbo Smyth taking over from me later on. âSorry Iâve got to leave your OBO now. I have to drive down through Connemara on a beautiful sunny day. Anyone know if thereâs a TMS link for the Englishman abroad please?â
Can anyone help, please? Poor old Deano sounds like heâs enduring a stinker here.
13th over: England 75-1 (Duckett 35, Jacks 20) Hardie returns, which makes sense â England struggled to get him away first up. And theyâre still struggling now, Duckett walloping straight to cover when seeking the fence, three singles the only scoring shots.
12th over: England 72-1 (Duckett 33, Jacks 19) In comms, Broad is taken back to this day in 2007 â each delivery is better than the cream cardigan-coat job he now sports â noting that he mightâve escaped a no-ball . Meantime, back in the middle, Jacks zetzes Shortâs first ball over cover for six and the addition of two ones and one two mean 10 off the over.
11th over: England 62-1 (Duckett 32, Jacks 10) Cameron Green into the attack and Jacks times a drive to mid-on, where Marsh intercepts on the dive. A further single follows, Jacks racing through as Duckett plays into the pitch, then another down the ground, and with this over yielding three, meaning five from the last two, Australia will be feeling better than 10 minutes ago.
10th over: England 59-1 (Duckett 31, Jacks 8) Time for some spin, Short into the attack, and some housekeeping: apparently, the email address at the top of the page was not, in fact mine, but Scott Murrayâs. Please hit refresh and hit me up. Two off the over, and Australia needed that.
9th over: England 57-1 (Duckett 30, Jacks 7) A no-ball means a free-hit, and a high wide gives Jacks another go ⦠and he doesnât miss out, cudgelling down the ground for four. Two turned to square-leg follow, and thatâs eight off the over, Australia now struggling to stem the flow of runs.
8th over: England 49-1 (Duckett 30, Jacks 1) Jacks shoves to mid-off and is off the mark.
WICKET! Salt b Dwarshuis 17 (England 48-1)
Salt is mystified, perhaps suggesting that the ball kept low and skidded on. But it seemed pretty regular to me, he just missed it having not looked in great touch, and heâs now hutchwards bound (he wishes he wasnât). Dwarshuis, meanwhile, has his debut ODI wicket; well done young man.
8th over: England 48-0 (Salt 17, Duckett 30) Salt eases a single to backward point, then Duckett drops and runs for one more.
7th over: England 46-0 (Salt 16, Duckett 29) Half-batter down the ground earns four for Duckett, then a drag-down sits up and beseeches treatment, the batter obliging by carting over square-leg for four more. Two dots follow, but Duckett has his eye in now, the two final balls of the other also whacked to the fence, both at midwicket, making it four fours in the over; England are motoring now.
6th over: England 30-0 (Salt 16, Duckett 13) Ricky Ponting, youâll be unsurprised to learn, does not enjoy Australiaâs moustaches, but I guess they pass the time, and in Beardman, the squad now possesses the first facial hair superhero. The first five balls of Dwarshuisâ over yield a two and a one, but then Slat steps outside his crease looking for a boundary and chops an edge that races past the stumps and to the fence. Well though Australia have bowled, theyâve not made a breakthrough and the scoring-rate is steadily increasing.
5th over: England 23-0 (Salt 10, Duckett 12) Abbott replaces Hardie and Duckett steps into a decent drive only for the bowler to grab in follow-through. No matter: after a wide ball, another widish ball and heâs on to it in a trice, playing it down through cover for four, then after three dots, another cross-batter into the covers earns three. Eight off the over, the most expensive of the innings so far.
4th over: England 15-0 (Salt 10, Duckett 5) Which nation has the best gear? Australiaâs is obviously iconic, but Iâm not sure one can ever accept yellow trousers, so I guess Iâm going for West Indies, not just because I want to post this Carl Hooper catch. Anyhow, back in the middle, Salt edges again and they take two to deep square, then two singles follow. This has been impressive from Australiaâs two young quicks.
3rd over: England 11-0 (Salt 7, Duckett 4) Both these batters adore width, and Australiaâs lines have been pretty straight so far. The over opens with three dots, then Duckett mistimes a drive through cover for two and does likewise next ball for a single, before Salt dabs into the same area and they add one more. Good start from Australia.
2nd over: England 7-0 (Salt 6, Duckett 1) The left-armer Dwarshuis will open from the other end, moustache bristling, and Salt applies a more central part of bat to his first two deliveries, then edges one that leaves him, the ball dropping short of slip thanks to his deployment of soft hands. But the next delivery is vintage Salt, flinging hands at a wider one to deposit four through cover, and Australia will know thatâs exactly where not to bowl to him.
1st over: England 3-0 (Salt 2, Duckett 1) Bit of away-swing first up and Salt plays and misses outside off, then edges into the off-side for one looking to play to leg. Duckett, of course, introduces bat to ball immediately, tapping one to point then, facing the final delivery of the over, Salt again looks to turn around the corner, again edges, and the ball drops just short of the diving Smith at backward point and they run one.
Looking at these two batting lineups, the sense is that it should be impossible for either to be dismissed without someone doing something significant; well, here we go, Aaron Hardie with the ball and Phil Salt facing.
Teams!
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jamie Smith (wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Matt Potts, 11 Adil Rashid.
Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitch Marsh (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Matt Short, 8 Aaron Hardie, 9 Sean Abbott, 10 Ben Dwarshuis, 11 Adam Zampa.
Archer tells Athers that he is sort of thinking about making the Ashes but the most important thing is today. He doesnât know Brook well but says the new skip is a really nice guy and theyâve been chatting a lot this week.
Oh, Reece Topley is ill so Matt Potts plays.
Stuart Broad, dressed down in jacket-coat affair, rhapsodises Duckett who he thinks is now one of the best limited-overs players in the world. Iâm looking forward to seeing how he, and the rest of Englandâs top four, do on a belter that comes with inviting short boundaries.
Full XIs to come, but Australia have had some illness in the camp and Glen Maxwell is missing.
Mitch Marsh says Australia wouldâve bowled and that Benny Dwarshuis, âan incredible talentâ, makes his dâboo. Heâs trying to teach his players the importance of enjoying playing, especially in England where the crowds are big, then notes that Zampa, winning his hundredth ODI cap, is a âbeautiful human beingâ. Youâd take that as a reference, eh?
England win the toss and will bat
Harry Brook wants to put pressure on Australia by racking up a big score. Ben Duckettâs playing, likewise Liam Livingstone.
Toss timeâ¦
England are playing Australia #PeripateticLawnmower
Also, what is it with sport and banal, frequently hashtagged phrases that donât actually make sense? Send in your favouritesâ¦
Whatâs the latest into autumn itâs acceptable to wear shorts? Iâm a November or so man, but with the cricket going so deep, perhaps that needs revising down â or up â to December.
Cricinfo report that Phil Salt has presented Bethell with his England cap, so heâll be making his debut today; lovely stuff.
If iâm not mistaken, this call comes from the Guardianâs Adam Collins. Imagine the aggro Worrall, in the process of converting from Australia to England, will get at the Gabba when â and it does feel like a when â heâs selected for an Ashes tour.
Of course thereâs plenty more going on. England, captained by Harry Brook, are in transition, with Jacob Bethell a particularly tasty new option, while Australia also have various new and newish faces in their squad â most notably Mahli Beardman. Add to that the old rivalries, most notably Archer v Smith, and thereâs plenty to distract us from whatever else weâre supposed to be doing.
Preamble
Every now and then, sport offers up an individual story that transcends its principal aspect: who wins and who loses. âNot hard,â I hear you snark, given the particularly peculiar nature of this contest, but bear with me.
Though we may be suspicious of what these matches are all about, our excitement â and trepidation â reflects not that, rather the brilliance of Jofra Archer and how much weâve missed him and it in the time weâve been bereft of them. But finally, after 18 months away, Englandâs best bowler is back, likewise the exhilaration of somehow being shocked by pace and lift we know are coming.
Australia, though, are as good as ever, reigning world champions with their own superstar bowler in Adam Zampa, playing his hundredth ODI. Theyâll be ready for whatever Archer can throw at them and, in Travis Head, have one of cricketâs most destructive batters in terrific nick.
Which is to say that, while we may have misgivings about what weâre shortly to enjoy, its essentials could not be more compelling: England are playing Australia and Archer is back. This is going to be good.
Play: 12.30pm BST