The

Australia cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) a ...

toured England to play three

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) and three

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) matches in September 2020. The ODI matches formed part of the inaugural 2020–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. Originally, the matches were scheduled to take place in July 2020, but were moved back to September 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On 14 August 2020,

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...

named a touring squad of 21 players, after gaining government exemptions to travel to the United Kingdom. The T20Is were played at the Rose Bowl in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, the ODIs were played at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, with all the fixtures played behind closed doors. England won the first two T20I matches, winning the series with an unassailable lead. For the third T20I fixture,

Moeen Ali Moeen or Moein or Moien is a given name and surname. It is a Quranic name which means: helper, supporter, or provider of refuge. Notable persons with the name include: Persons with the given name * Moein (singer) (born 1951), Iranian singer * Mo ...

captained England for the first time in an international match, after

Eoin Morgan Eoin (, or ) is an Irish name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is () and both are closely related to the Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish . In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as ''John'' in Engli ...

suffered a hand injury in the second T20I. Australia went on to win the match by five wickets, with England winning the series 2–1. With their win in the third T20I, Australia finished at the top of the

ICC T20I Championship The ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings is an international Twenty20 cricket rankings system of the International Cricket Council. After every T20I match, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's p ...

rankings. Australia won the ODI series 2–1. It was the first time in five years that England had lost an ODI series at home, after Australia beat them 3–2 in September 2015.

Background

In May 2020, it was suggested that the dates for the series were moved back to September, to accommodate the rescheduling of the ODI fixtures against Ireland due to the pandemic. Later the same month, Kevin Roberts, the then CEO of

, said that there was still a chance that the series would take place. On 17 June 2020,

Cricket Scotland Cricket Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Cricket Union, is the Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Scotland. The body is based at the National Cricket Academy, Edinburgh. The SCU was formed in 1908, but unde ...

confirmed that their one-off T20I match against Australia had been cancelled. At the time of the cancellation, new dates for Australia's matches against England were in discussion, with both cricket boards working out a revised schedule for September 2020. On 6 July 2020, the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

(ECB) confirmed discussions were still ongoing to host the series. On 16 July 2020, Cricket Australia named a 26-man preliminary squad to begin training ahead of the planned tour to England. On 14 August 2020, Cricket Australia named a squad of 21 players to tour England, with the team departing from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on 23 August 2020.

Squads

Australia did not name individual squads for the ODI and T20I matches, opting instead to name a combined squad of 21 players for the tour.

Joe Denly Joseph Liam Denly (born 16 March 1986) is an English professional cricketer who plays for Kent County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional leg break bowler who plays as a top-order batsman. Denly played age group cricket f ...

and

Saqib Mahmood Saqib Mahmood (born 25 February 1997) is an English cricketer who plays for England and Lancashire. Primarily he is a right-arm fast bowler. He made his international Twenty20 debut for England in November 2019, with his Test debut in March 20 ...

were named as reserve players for England's ODI squad, with

Liam Livingstone Liam Stephen Livingstone (born 4 August 1993) is an English cricketer who plays for Lancashire and England. Livingstone is a right-handed batter and spin bowler, capable of bowling both right-arm leg and off spin. He made his Twenty20 debut for ...

and Saqib Mahmood named as reserve players for the T20I squad. On 6 September 2020, Phil Salt was added to England's list of reserve players for the ODI matches.

Jos Buttler Joseph Charles Buttler (born 8 September 1990) is an English cricketer who captains the England cricket team in limited overs cricket, and plays for the England Test team. In domestic cricket he represents Lancashire, having previously played ...

ruled himself out of England's squad for the third T20I match due to personal reasons. On 9 September 2020,

Jason Roy Jason Jonathan Roy (born 21 July 1990) is an English cricketer who plays for England in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, and previously played for the Test team. In domestic cricket, he represents Surre ...

was added to England's ODI squad, with

Dawid Malan Dawid Johannes Malan ( ; born 3 September 1987) is an English cricketer who plays internationally for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Yorkshire, having previously played for Middlesex, and has played in multiple Twent ...

named as a reserve player for the matches.

Practice matches

Prior to the international matches, Australia trained at the County Cricket Ground in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. The team then travelled to

to play intra-squad practice matches at the Rose Bowl.

Aaron Finch Aaron James Finch (born 17 November 1986) is a Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in T20I and formerly captained the national team in ODI cricket. Finch currently holds the record for two of the three h ...

and

Pat Cummins Patrick James Cummins (born 8 May 1993) is an Australian international cricketer who captains the Australian cricket team in Test and ODI cricket. He is a fast bowler and right-handed batsman. He plays domestically for New South Wales. Cummi ...

were named as the captains of the two teams, with a cricketer from

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hampshire. Hampshire teams formed by earlier organisations, principal ...

also included to make the full complement of 22 players. The first warm-up match was scheduled to be 50 overs per side, but was reduced to a 20-over game, after rain was forecast for later in the day. The rain did end the first match early, after 5.5 overs were bowled in the second innings. Conversely, the next practice match was scheduled to be played as a 20-over match, but was changed to a 50-over game. Finally, Australia's squad played two 20-over matches on 1 September 2020, with Aaron Finch's team winning both matches. ---- ---- ----

T20I series

1st T20I

2nd T20I

3rd T20I

ODI series

1st ODI

2nd ODI

3rd ODI

Notes

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian cricket team in England in 2020 2020 in Australian cricket 2020 in English cricket International cricket competitions in 2020

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Cricket events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic