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Brook confirms that Jofra Archer has been replaced by Olly Stone. Australia have got some of their big guns back in the side – Maxwell, Hazlewood and Starc all return.
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🔷 In the blue corner….
We’ve won the toss and will bowl first in Leeds 👊 pic.twitter.com/PzKaJyiKJw
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 21, 2024
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We are out there to score runs. If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field, then who cares?”
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These were the words of stand in Captain Harry Brook in the moments after England were drubbed by Australia in the first ODI at Trent Bridge. Brook was perhaps trying to set a defiant tone in defeat, reaching for somewhere between bravado and positive thinking but his turn of phrase ended up sounding somewhat glib.
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His side were outplayed by the Aussies in Nottingham, Travis Head putting together another – in a nifty phrase coined by my OBO colleague Rob Smyth – ‘dirty masterpiece’. Slugging his way to 154*, the walrus moustachioed Head took England’s bowlers to the dry cleaner and then out for a steak supper before never calling them again.
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Headingley is the venue for the second match of five in the series. England will be cheered on by plenty in the ground who deeply care, not least in forking out for a ticket and journeying to the ground to watch some live cricket before the summer disappears for another year.
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Play starts at 11am BST and I’ll be back shortly to bring you the news of the teams and the toss.
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Main Events
Sky has a great chat It's conducted by Mike Atherton and Ricky Ponting and performed by the bobble hat-wearing, cold-voiced Travis Head.
Head has been brilliant in recent years across all formats, delivering on the biggest stages – the World Cup final in India last year and the World Test Championship final at the Oval Spring – and he's also a very likeable character.
Interestingly, he said the pressure of strike rate in T20 cricket is a big headache, and the shorter the format the more difficult it is, whereas in Test cricket “if you're not doing well you can push yourself a bit and when you're doing well you can go as fast as you want”.
He makes it all sound so easy, doesn't he?
He is a lipa.
“May he continue to do well”
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh talks about Travis Head's incredible performance 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/BE4JtuEJg7
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 21, 2024
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England won the toss and decided to bat first.
There is a bit of cloud cover at Headingley and the general consensus is that it may move a bit depending on the conditions aloft, but it will be mostly flat after that. Mitch Marsh also admits that he would have had a bowl game first.
Brook confirmed Jofra Archer had been replaced by Olly Stone, while Australia saw key players Maxwell, Hazlewood and Starc return to the team.
🔷 In the blue corner….
I won the toss and will bowl first for Leeds 👊 pic.twitter.com/PzKaJyiKJw
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 21, 2024
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Pre-match reading: Bernie Ronay has this to say about England's recently concluded summer of cricket and its ODI captain, Harry Brook:
preamble
James Wallace
We're there to score, who cares if we get caught on the boundary or anywhere on the field?”
Those were the words of captain Harry Brook in the aftermath of England's heavy defeat to Australia in the first ODI at Trent Bridge. Brook was perhaps trying to project an air of defiance in the wake of the defeat, aiming for something between bravado and positivity, but the phrasing came off as a little flippant.
His team was thrashed by Australia in Nottingham, with Travis Head producing yet another “filthy masterpiece” (to use a witty phrase coined by my OBO colleague Rob Smith): Head with his walrus moustache banged his way to 154*, took the England bowlers to the dry cleaners and then out for a steak dinner, never to be heard from again.
Headingley is hosting the second of five matches in the series and England will be cheered on by a huge, engaged crowd who will be buying tickets and making the journey to the stadium to watch live cricket before another summer is lost.
The match kicks off at 11am BST and I'll be back shortly with team and toss news.
