The England Australia ODI series opens at Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday, a year after a 4-1 Ashes defeat that began in the same city. Three ODIs and five T20 internationals follow.
England's build-up has been quiet and structured. Australia's has not. Usman Khawaja's autobiography has revived the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, and his claims have framed the days before the first match.
Khawaja states that every member of the Australia team at the time knew in advance about the plan to alter the condition of the ball during the Cape Town Test. He also claims sandpaper was used in the previous Test of that series, in Gqeberha.
Mitchell Starc disputes Khawaja account
Starc, who bowled in that series and remains part of Australia's squads, disputes that he was aware of the scheme. Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon issued a joint statement in 2021 denying prior knowledge of the ball-tampering.
Only one member of the Cape Town XI is involved in this white-ball series. Mitchell Marsh captains Australia; Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins have been rested, and Starc has retired from international T20 cricket.
England Australia ODI series preparation
England's previous visit to Perth was preceded by a single intra-squad fixture at Lilac Hill on a docile pitch. They lost the opening Ashes Test inside two days after a batting collapse built on repeated driving on the up, then lost the day-night Test in Brisbane and the Test in Adelaide.
Brendon McCullum was Test coach at the time. He was sacked in July after the 4-1 Ashes defeat and a 2-1 home series loss to New Zealand, but was retained as limited-overs head coach.
For this tour England played Western Australia at the WACA last Saturday, winning by 92 runs. Harry Brook, the white-ball captain, said the surface offered bounce and carry far closer to Optus Stadium than Lilac Hill did.
"The conditions [at the WACA] always feel a lot closer than Lilac Hill. The bounce, the carry, the pace of the pitch - it's miles away from what Lilac Hill offered us. Thankfully we got the opportunity to play there."
Brook also said: "The key is to try and be one of the fittest and strongest sides in the world. You can never guarantee [winning] but you can guarantee the off-field preparation can be a lot better."
Further warm-up fixtures are planned. Joe Root's Test squad will play a Cricket South Africa XI in Durban before the three-Test series starting December 17, and a practice match is pencilled in before the 150th anniversary Test in Melbourne in March.
England's white-ball results under McCullum
England have won three consecutive bilateral 50-over series and top the T20 rankings, first after beating India 4-0 in July and again after sweeping Sri Lanka 3-0 in September. A tri-series in the subcontinent, where they struggled with the ball in run chases against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is the recent exception.
Joe Root, who is in the squad for the three ODIs, has said he does not want to speculate on Khawaja's claims because he was not in that dressing room. Jacob Bethell, separately, has been ruled out of the entire white-ball tour after a setback in his return from injury and is a doubt for the South Africa Tests.
Michael Atherton, speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, framed the shift in attention: "Now the focus is on the home team - and for an Englishman there is no better time to be in Australia than when the Australian team are tearing themselves apart, as they seem to be doing right now."
Analysis: the balance of the series
Analysis. Australia's pace attack without Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc is short of established options, and the captain will face repeated questions about 2018 rather than about the opposition. England arrive with a completed warm-up on a comparable surface and a settled white-ball record.
Schedule and start times
The ODIs start at 3.30am UK time and the T20s at 8.15am UK time.
This report is based on the original coverage by skysports.com.
