Australia v England: first men’s cricket one-day international – live

Key events3m agoAustralia XI10m agoAustralia win the toss and elect to bowl26m agoPreambleAustralia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Cooper Connolly, Matt Renshaw, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Jack Edwards, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Mahli Beardman.Beardman is called into the XI for his ODI debut after being handed his cap by fellow West Australian Mike Hussey. The young fast bowler says that he went to school with Hussey’s son.Australia are missing the Big Three fast bowlers (or is that now a Big Four?) with Beardman joined by more experienced white-ball quicks Bartlett and Johnson, as well as all-rounder Edwards.Harry Brook concedes England would have liked to bowl first as well.“You have got do both sides of the game at some point, so we’ll take it on,” Brook said. You guys“We’ve had a really good week’s training block and it’s something we don’t really get much in the white ball space.”Australia win the toss and elect to bowlMitch Marsh sends the coin skyward and Harry Brook calls the wrong way.“Historically I don’t think this wicket will change at all. And it’s well renowned that we like to chase,” Marsh said. “Hopefully we can get off to a good start with the ball and apply some pressure early.”Mahli Beardman comes into the side. “Nice to get him out there with the new ball in hand,” Marsh says, “It’s going to be exciting for him. Probably no better place the world as a young West Australian to debut.“It’s the start of the summer for us. For all of our teams it’s an exciting time, three-match series. That first game’s always really important. We’ve learned a lot of lessons the last few games in terms of we want to play and we’ve got a reasonably young and inexperienced side but lots of energy.”Pat Cummins came out firing today in a press conference that lasted more than an hour without even a drinks break being called.The Australia Test captain is not playing in this white-ball series against England but has already left his mark on the first ODI as he denied Usman Khawaja’s claims that the entire Australia team was implicated in the 2018 sandpaper scandal, describing the allegations as “complete and utter nonsense” and “100% wrong”.Caitlin Cassidy was at Cricket NSW headquarters in Sydney as Cummins responded to Khawaja’s allegations and countless questions … double quotation markCummins said Khawaja was a friend to him, adding he had been “grappling” over recent days as to whether their relationship was irrevocably harmed. He said Khawaja was “100% wrong” with his claim that the whole team knew sandpaper was going out on the field, maintaining he “did not know that was happening” and “did not see anything on the ball” at the time. ‘He says that I and others were architects of a scheme to ball tamper with sandpaper. That’s complete and utter nonsense,’ Cummins said. ‘I was genuinely shocked this week when I found out Usman admitted he told Cam [Bancroft] to be careful when using sandpaper. That’s not [the] Usman that I know. It’s not the Usman that has been part of the team that’s helped rebuild the Australian cricket culture over the last eight years. ‘Usman is a friend, but friends aren’t casual with each other’s lives and reputations. In his book he’s been casual with my life and the lives of many others and, I think, Australian cricket.’ PreambleMartin PeganHello and welcome to live coverage of the first one-day international between Australia and England in Perth. Australia might have hoped to be focused on bouncing back from their Test series defeat in South Africa with a change of pace in three ODIs and five T20Is to come against the old enemy. But the spotlight has shone much further back to their previous Test tour of South Africa and the sandpaper scandal that rocked the country – and the cricket world – eight and a half years ago, following the release of Usman Khawaja’s book Sabr this week.Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has spoken at length today around his recollections of what happened in Cape Town in 2018, about what Khawaja has alleged in his memoir and in media either side of its release on Tuesday, and much, much more. We’ll point you to more on that shortly.But for now, this first ODI between the arch rivals sends them on the road toward the Cricket World Cup in less than 12 months, with these three 50-over matches all the more important for being Australia’s last for eight months. The defending champions have an eye on the future with a relatively young squad named for this series, while they come with middling form after a 2-1 series defeat in South Africa in September. England have their own mounting concerns after winning one of four matches during an ODI tri-series against Sri Lanka and hosts Pakistan last month.Toss and confirmed teams will be coming up shortly – with the first ball to be bowled at 11.30am AWST/2.30pm AEDT/3.30am BST. In the meantime, get in touch with your thoughts and predictions by email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky.