Australia
v England: Jos Buttler '100% fit' to make return
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Australia v England, first Twenty20
international |
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Venue: Optus Stadium, Perth Date: 9
October Time: 09:10 BST |
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Coverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio
5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Sport website & app; live text commentary on BBC
Sport website & app |
England captain Jos
Buttler says he is "100% fit" to return after almost two months out
with a calf injury.
Buttler will lead England in the first of
three Twenty20 internationals against Australia on Sunday as they finalise
their World Cup preparations.
The 32-year-old has not played since The
Hundred, and sat out all of England's 4-3 series win in Pakistan.
"The fitness is good," Buttler told
BBC Sport. "I'm feeling great and excited to play cricket again."
England meet the T20 World Cup hosts and
defending champions in Perth on Sunday (09:10 BST) before two matches in
Canberra on Wednesday and Friday.
They then have one more warm-up match with
Pakistan - unlikely to be a full international - in Brisbane on 17 October,
before their World Cup campaign begins against Afghanistan in Perth on 22
October.
Though Buttler is fit, England still have
concerns over batter Liam Livingstone, who has also been out since The Hundred
with an ankle injury and could miss the start of the tournament.
"He is still a little way off at the
minute so he's building back," Buttler said. "Hopefully he'll get
back to full fitness before the start of the World Cup."
Livingstone is one of three players to have
joined up with England since the Pakistan tour, alongside pace bowler Chris Jordan
and all-rounder Ben Stokes.
Test captain Stokes is set to play his first
T20 international since March 2021, likely batting at number four.
"Ben is someone we want to try to give as
much opportunity to impact the game as possible," Buttler said.
"We want to get him up the order as high
as we can, give him as much responsibility as possible and allow him to play
his way to get the best out of him."
Buttler's return at the top of the order means
England will have to make a choice between Phil Salt and Alex Hales, who opened
together in all but one of the matches in Pakistan.
"They are both fantastic options, with
different styles," said Buttler. I'll have a good chat with the coach
[Matthew Mott] and decide who is the best option."
Australia have rotated their squad, having
only completed a 2-0 series won over West Indies on the opposite side of
the country in Brisbane on Friday.
Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins,
Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa have all been rested.
Batter Tim David made 42 from 20 balls in
Friday's victory in his fifth match for Australia.
David, 26, had played 14 previous
internationals for Singapore, the country of his birth, and built his
reputation through a string of impressive performances in franchise tournaments
across the globe.
"Now he's in our team and our set-up,
it's a godsend," said opener David Warner.
"He's an incredible player. He has some
serious power, so it boosts our middle order, and to come out and play like
that and with his height as well, and strength, it suits us, that's for
sure."
England's most recent T20 meeting with
Australia came in the group stage of last year's World Cup, when England dominated
in an eight-wicket win.
But whereas England were knocked out in the
semi-finals, Australia went on to lift the trophy with victory over New Zealand
"It was a lightbulb moment for the team
that we needed to change the way we were playing," said Australia
wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.
"In the World Cup game they demolished us
and it changed the way we went about playing T20 cricket from that point
onwards.
"They have been the benchmark in T20 for
a long time and it will be good to test ourselves."
