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Jamie Smith will bat at number three for England against Australia as the Jos Buttler-led side announced their 11 for the 2025 Champions Trophy opener.
Jamie Smith (AFP Photo)
England announced their playing 11 for their 2025 Champions Trophy opener against Australia on Thursday, almost two days before the clash at Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium on Saturday. The team saw two major changes with wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith slotting in at number three and Jofra Archer returning to the pace attack after missing the second and third ODIs of the three-match series against India earlier this month.
Smith has never batted at number three in his six-match-long ODI career. where he has scored 133 runs at an average of 22.17 and a strike rate of 93.01. He missed the India series due to an injury and England tried Joe Root at the spot in the first two matches, before bringing in Tom Banton there in the third game. However, neither solved their batting issues as the team lost the series 3-0, drawing immense criticism.
Smith’s inclusion at number three suggests the team’s intention to continue with Joe Root at number four with Harry Brook and Jos Buttler forming the spine at number five and six. In the bowling department, England have gone with a pace-heavy attack, with Adil Rashid being the only specialist spinner.
England’s 11 to face Australia: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith (WK), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (C), Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood
Want to see Buttler at three: Nasser Hussain
Buttler’s continuation in the lower end of the middle-order won’t sit well with too many English fans or pundits, who had hoped he’d take a promotion to the top-order after the debacle in India.
“Jos Buttler is arguably England’s best-ever white-ball batter,” Nasser Hussain had written in the Daily Mail. “He has had a quiet time of it in 50-over cricket, but if England are to do something special, they will need their captain to return to form. I would personally promote Buttler to No 3. At the moment, he is coming in at five in the middle of crisis. The England hierarchy see it slightly differently and want Buttler in a finishing role. But I’d like to see him be in before the crisis, setting the tone, facing the most deliveries and getting hundreds.”
