Super League points at stake as England take on Australia in first ODI

Reigning world champions England will take on formidable opposition Australia in a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series, beginning in Manchester from Friday, as both teams look for important ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League points.

England played at home in only one series of the Super League so far when they sealed a comfortable 2-1 win against Ireland.

Five-time World Cup winners Australia, on the other hand, will look to make a bright start to their campaign for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 when they head into the ODI series against the defending champions.

The Super League, introduced to bring context to ODI cricket, will determine qualification for 2023, with the top seven teams booking their spots for the showpiece event along with hosts India.

Featuring 13 teams, the 12 ICC Full Members and the Netherlands, who qualified by winning the ICC World Cricket League Championship 2015-17, the Super League will see each side play four home and four away three-match series. 

The sides who fails to qualify directly will get a second shot through a Qualifier, the ICC press release stated.

Each team gets 10 points for a win, five for a tie/no result/abandonment and none for a loss. Teams will be ranked according to total points earned across the eight series.

The England-Australia series will also feature many leading players in the Men’s ODI Player Rankings including formerly top-ranked Australia players David Warner (presently ranked sixth), Mitchell Starc (10th) and Josh Hazlewood (15th).

Among other Australia players to watch are captain Aaron Finch (seventh) among batsmen and fast bowler Pat Cummins (fourth), who too have enjoyed higher rankings in the past.

For England, Joe Root is the highest ranked batsman in ninth place. The Test captain would be looking to claw back towards the second rank he enjoyed two years ago, while Jonny Bairstow (13th) and Jason Roy (14th) have a chance to return to the top 10. 

Chris Woakes is seventh among bowlers and fifth among all-rounders.

Heading into the ODI series, England have a slight advantage over Australia as they are coming following a 2-1 win in the three-match T20I series over the Aaron Finch-led side.

England have also clinched three-match home Test series 2-1 against West Indies and subsequent Test series against Pakistan 1-0 since resuming international cricket in July after COVID-19 halt.