Australia vs England T20I: Australia is amongst the strongest teams in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. But if we go by the form guide, we will not feel the same. The team lost the series at home against England losing the first two T20Is. They were seemingly losing 3rd one too which was halted by rains.
Australia appeared to be headed for yet another loss in Canberra. Ending the series against England with a 2-0 victory for the visitors. Australia’s official T20I schedule for the World Cup is already over. But they still have a warm-up game against India on Tuesday in Brisbane. Then they to Sydney in preparation for their tournament starter at the SCG on Saturday.
Australia’s Busy Schedule a Concern
Since the end of August, they have played two ODI series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand. The majority of players of the World Cup team participated in the series. After that, they traveled to India for three T20Is, and then played five home matches against England and the West Indies. For the same reason, Aaron Finch, the captain suggested that the team is now too tired and that is why they saw performance drop in the recent series.
He said, “Think the guys are probably a little bit tired at the moment in all honesty. The schedule has been so packed over the last six or eight weeks. We identified a couple of months ago that we want to be peaking at the right time for the World Cup and not beforehand so it’s going to be important over the next couple of days to try and freshen everyone up as much as we can.”
Australia vs England T20I: Finch’s Review on Series Against England
Finch had no concerns about the overall series outcome. This continues Australia’s terrible record against England. They have only one victory in their previous eight Twenty20 international matches. On October 28, the two sides square off at the MCG during the World Cup’s group stage.
“Overall we were pretty disappointing in this series, England definitely outplayed us,” he said. “With the bat we were probably always one wicket further down than we needed to be over the whole series. In big run chases you need that one ‘in’ batter towards the end, we were just falling a little short each time with that.
“With the ball, there were some really good signs; the way Maxi closed out tonight, Zamps’ contribution, all the quicks have had good roles, and Stoin as well in that last game. All in all we aren’t bad, just a little sharpening up would be nice.”
Finch on Team Balance
Talking about the team’s balance, Maxwell’s role, and his bad performance. Finch looks optimistic. He says “He’s an absolute matchwinner. With guys like that who play a high-risk game, you have to ride the ups and downs at times. The ball he’s contributed really well and in the field, his contribution is as good as anyone in the world.”
“With the bat he’d have liked more runs, no doubt, we all would, myself included. But the reality is you can’t expect someone to play a game that high risk all the time and be consistent. His numbers over a long period of time are remarkable.
“And he’s probably one who is a little bit fatigued as well. I know he’s had a really big workload, coming off the Hundred and then the series post that. For Maxi, if he gets a really good freshen-up over the next few days he’ll come out firing at this World Cup, no doubt.”
