Champions Trophy 2025, ENG vs AUS Preview: Can England capitalise on Australia's injury woes?

An out-of-form England and an injury-plagued Australia will be desperate to kick off their Champions Trophy campaign with a victory in what promises to be a tightly contested Group B clash between the Ashes rivals in Lahore on Saturday.

Both teams have struggled in the ODI format in recent months. Defending world champions Australia suffered series defeats to Sri Lanka (0-2) and Pakistan (1-2), while England, now coached by Brendon McCullum across all formats, have yet to win an ODI series since their disastrous 2023 World Cup campaign.

Led by Jos Buttler, England head into the tournament on the back of a humiliating 0-3 whitewash against India, where they looked out of depth and struggled to compete.

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Eager to make an impact on this ICC showpiece, both teams will be looking to regain momentum. Australia, however, hold a psychological edge, having beaten England 3-2 in a five-match ODI series on their home soil last September.

However, much has changed since then, with the reigning world champions missing five key players from their original squad.

Australia’s pace attack has been severely depleted, with their formidable trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc all ruled out of the tournament.

Adding to their woes, they will also be without all-rounders Mitchell Marsh (back injury) and Cameron Green (injury), while Marcus Stoinis made a shock retirement from the format despite being named in the initial squad.

With Steve Smith stepping in as stand-in skipper, Australia face an uphill task in replicating their past success in what is often dubbed a 'mini' World Cup.

In Marsh’s absence, Smith is likely to take the No. 3 spot, shouldering the batting responsibility for a side that previously dominated this tournament, winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2009.

Meanwhile, all eyes will be on explosive opener Travis Head, who impressed at this very venue during their 2022 series, smashing scores of 101 and 89.

Head also hammered a career-best 154* against England at Trent Bridge in last year's series, making him a major threat at the top of the order.

In response, England have assembled a formidable three-pronged pace attack, featuring Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Brydon Carse, with Adil Rashid providing the spin option.

"They're pretty much all-out fast bowling with Adil (Rashid, the leg-spinner) being their banker – he's high quality, and doesn't go underrated in this room – but there's so much excitement around Wood, Jofra, Carse and (Gus) Atkinson," head told 'cricket.com.au'.

"We're going to have to make sure we start well against them. As an opening batter, how I can counteract that and how I play against that is a great challenge."

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England have also included promising wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith, who is expected to slot in at No. 3.

With the pitch likely to favour batting, Ben Duckett—who was in blistering form against India—will aim to provide a strong start, while Joe Root will anchor the innings.

Root, England’s second-highest run-scorer in the India series behind Duckett, will be eager to make a big impact in this crucial clash.

Still in search of their maiden Champions Trophy title, England are determined to move past their recent struggles in India and start afresh.

"Regardless of what happened in India, we've got that belief that we've got the talent, we've got the world-class players, the match-winners in the squad to win the tournament," Rashid said.

Teams (from)

Australia: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Cooper Connolly.

England XI: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt), Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

Match starts: 2.30PM IST.