Champions Trophy, ENG vs AUS: What will be Australia's playing 11 today?

The ODI world champions, Australia, are all set to renew their rivalry with England in the second match of Group B in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 today at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Australia had multiple reasons to worry on their road to the Champions Trophy. They first lost their all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, skipper Pat Cummins, and frontline pacer Josh Hazlewood due to injury, before Mitchell Starc opted out of the tournament due to personal reasons and Marcus Stoinis announced his retirement from ODI cricket. This means five of their initial 15-member squad had to be replaced even before the tournament began. On top of that, they lost 0-2 to Sri Lanka in the ODI series before coming to Pakistan.

 

 

So, while England, in a surprise turn of events, announced their playing 11 two days before the match on Thursday, questions around Australia’s squad selection still linger. Let's take a look at how Australia’s playing 11 could shape up for Saturday’s clash against England. 

Australia Playing 11 prediction vs England for Champions Trophy 2025

 

Confirmed names 

While Australia are expected to have several surprise names in their playing 11, some players are unlikely to miss out against England. These include skipper Steve Smith, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Adam Zampa, Alex Carey, and Marnus Labuschagne.

 

Pace attack 

Missing the services of all three of their frontline pacers—Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood—will be a major headache for Australia. However, they still have some quality pacers who can step into the vacant shoes comfortably. Sean Abbott and Spencer Johnson are two names who have proved their brilliance recently for the national team and in franchise cricket around the globe. Skipper Steve Smith will find it hard to look past them for the match against England. 

 

The real toss-up will be between Nathan Ellis and Ben Dwarshuis, as both are similar types of bowlers. However, since Ellis performed better in the recently concluded Big Bash League in Australia, he is expected to get the preference over Dwarshuis.

 

Tussle for the opening spot 

While Australia’s opening combination will be a key question for today’s game, it is an issue they were expected to face regardless of the unfortunate exclusion of five main players. The two contenders for the opening slot alongside Travis Head—Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk—have both played some fine knocks for Australia in recent history. However, Short’s form in the BBL again gives him an edge over Fraser-McGurk. On top of that, his ability to adapt his game to the situation helps Head and Australia settle down more comfortably.

 

Australia’s playing 11: 

Australia Playing 11: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson

 

England’s playing 11: 

Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith (w), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.