There are nine months to go before the start of the 2025/26 men’s Ashes series but thoughts of the first ball at the Perth Stadium in November will be far away when Australia and England meet in Group B of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy (ICT) on Saturday in Lahore.
This is the opening game of the tournament for both teams and although Australia are one of only two sides who have lifted the trophy twice before, they have not won an ICT game since 2009! England on the other hand have never won the tournament, although they have reached at least the semi-finals in the last three editions and finished runners-up in 2004 and 2013.
Although Australia won the last ODI World Cup in November 2023 and England the previous one in 2019, neither comes into this 50-over format competition as favourites. Both sides have lost their last four games in this format and Australia’s pace bowling attack is without their world-class trio of captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Why Australia can win
Despite missing those quick-bowling superstars, the green and gold are still able to boast an impressive squad of players which includes Steve Smith as skipper, fresh off bringing up 10,000 Test runs and 17,000 international runs during the recent tour of Sri Lanka.
Travis Head is another batter in fine form and he averages 55.87 from 18 ODIs against England, which includes his highest score in the format of 154 not out from 129 balls in the last H2H series five months ago. Head’s no stranger to performing on the big stage, averaging more than 50 at the 2023 World Cup to go with a 71* in his only Champions Trophy match (2017).
With Sean Abbott, who went wicketless in his last three ODI H2Hs against England, the most experienced of Australia’s pace bowling options (26 caps), there will be greater pressure on leg-spinner Adam Zampa to perform.
He did just that during the 2023 CWC, finishing as the second top wicket taker and has picked up 32 wickets at an average of 16.40 across his last 11 ODIs against England.
Why England can win
Coming off a disappointing white ball tour of India which saw them lose the T20Is 4-1 and the ODIs 3-0, head coach Brendon McCullum has a job on his hands! But he turned an under-performing Test side around in 2022 and will now be looking to do the same in this format.
At the top of the order, Ben Duckett has relaunched his international career following McCullum taking on the Test job and the pint-sized left-hander averages 46.16 from 19 ODIs. Versus Australia, that goes up to 61.00 and he hit 107 in the last H2H in this format.
Phil Salt is another attacking opener charged with getting England off to a strong start and he often delivers with only four single-figure scores from his 28 ODI innings.
Experienced spinner Adil Rashid was one of few positives to come out of the India trip and he will be looking to him to reproduce the form which he showed against Australia across 18 H2Hs from 2017 to 2023 when he took 38 wickets.
Venue and conditions
According to the forecast, humidity levels will be over 60% throughout this clash on Saturday with sunny conditions ahead of nightfall. The temperature will be no higher than 22 degrees with a light wind in Lahore.
This venue was used for two games in the recently completed Pakistan Tri-Nation Series and saw team scores of 300+ in three of the four innings. Six players made scores of 80+ across the two matches, including three centuries, with spin-bowlers overall proving better at keeping the run-rate down.
Match stats
• Since making 201* against Afghanistan during the 2023 CWC, Glenn Maxwell is averaging 7.37 from nine ODI innings.
• The last ten ODIs in Lahore have seen five won by the team batting first and five by the team chasing.
• England lost ten of their last 13 ODIs in Asia (W3).
• Jos Buttler has been dismissed for a single figure score in five of his last six ODI innings against Australia.
• Sean Abbott has bowled just one maiden from 97.4 ODI overs in Asia.
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