PERTH: Australia will unleash their new pace-bowling hope, Mahli Beardman, in the first of three one-dayers against England on Friday, with skipper Mitchell Marsh calling him “an amazing talent”.
Veteran quicks Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are all sitting out the series, which gets underway in the shadow of the 2018 ball-tampering scandal that reignited this week.
Their absence ahead of home Tests against New Zealand has allowed selectors to include a host of fresh faces as they build towards their World Cup defence next year.
“He’s an amazing talent, a ripping young kid,” Marsh told reporters, confirming the 21-year-old Beardman would make his ODI debut on his home ground.
“Looking forward to seeing him out on a fast and bouncy Perth Stadium wicket.
“For a young kid, he really understands his game early on [in his career],” he added.
“He loves to bowl fast; he’s always on record saying that all he wants to do is bowl fast, and that’s an attitude that you can’t always teach.”
Beardman made his T20 debut in January, claiming 2-33 against Pakistan in Lahore, then spent the next seven months recovering from a back stress injury.
The rest of the team will be announced at the toss, but Xavier Bartlett is set to lead the attack alongside Beardman and left-arm seamer Spencer Johnson.
All-rounders Jack Edwards and Liam Scott are additional options.
Marsh and Travis Head headline the Australian batting, with Test stars Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Matt Renshaw and Alex Carey also in the squad.
The home side enter the match with a run of three straight ODI series wins over England, who suffered a double blow before the games even started.
Batsman Jacob Bethell and paceman Josh Tongue have both been ruled out with injuries and are heading home.
England will once more heavily rely on veteran Joe Root to anchor the batting and Jofra Archer to lead the attack.
“Our focus is all about what we do between now and that World Cup,” Root said. “We’re not the most finished article; we’re not an experienced team that’s been together for three or four years.
“So it’s really important we make the most of the opportunities that we have ahead of us, and we keep looking to learn and grow and develop to get ourselves in the best possible place leading into that tournament.”
Australia play England in five T20s following the ODIs.
Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2026
