Beardman to debut for Australia as Marsh opts to field in Perth ODI

Australia will field a relatively inexperienced pace attack in the first ODI against England at Perth Stadium on Friday, with debutant Mahli Beardman included in the eleven. Captain Mitchell Marsh chose to bowl after winning the toss and said the side would proceed without Test quicks Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who are resting after the South Africa tour, as well as regular white-ball pacer Nathan Ellis, who is sidelined with a side strain.

Beardman, who previously appeared in a T20 International in Pakistan earlier this year, will join seam-bowling all-rounder Jack Edwards, who is also slated to bat at No. 7. Marsh indicated that the selected top-six batsmen, including Cooper Connolly at No. 3, are the core of Australia’s line-up for next year’s World Cup.

England have named a near-full-strength squad, retaining left-arm spinner Liam Dawson over leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Dawson was preferred again after Rashid was omitted for most of the recent tri-series in Pakistan, despite taking four wickets in England’s warm-up win against Western Australia. The English side will look to adapt quickly to the fast, bouncy Perth surface, which has produced an average of 171.75 runs for teams batting first in the venue’s last four ODIs.

The match is expected to be high-scoring under sunny and warm conditions, with an anticipated attendance of about 25,000 spectators.

Australia XI: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis (wk), Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Jack Edwards, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Mahli Beardman. England XI: Ben Duckett, Tom Banton, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jordan Cox (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer.