Australia vs England ODI Series: 5 key players for Australia
The arch-rivals Australia and England will face each other in a five-match ODI series. Australia will feature in an international match for the first time since the unfortunate ball-tampering incident and they will be playing without the services of their two star batsmen - David Warner and Steven Smith. They have a new captain in the form of Tim Paine and it's going to be an uphill task for him as the team looks to build up for next year's World Cup. The Australian team will be eager to put the whole ball-tampering episode behind them and start afresh by winning the series.
As far as the England team is concerned, they are the clear favorites against an inexperienced Australian side in the upcoming series. In recent years, their emergence as one of the strongest teams in the 50-over format of the game has been a delight to watch. With a year left to the World Cup, they would like to fine-tune their combinations.
The five-match series kicks off on June 13 with the first match at the Oval. Here's a closer look at the 5 players who will have a big say for the Australian team in this series.
#1 Aaron Finch
Known for his hard-hitting and ability to finish matches, Aaron Finch holds the key to Australia's success in this series. In the absence of David Warner, he has been named as the new vice-captain of the team. He is the most experienced player in the squad in terms of ODI appearances and will have the responsibility to help the youngsters in the team.
For his own motivation, he doesn't need to go too far back in time and might want to look at the last series against the same opponent played earlier this year. He scored 275 runs in that series, most by any player from both the teams. He smashed 2 centuries and averaged over 90. His team needs the same performance from him in this series too.
Aaron Finch in ODIs: Matches - 88, Runs - 3200, Avg. - 38.55, 100s - 10, 50s - 18