England start their three-match ODI series in Australia on Friday 13 November in Perth without Jacob Bethell. The young all-rounder has been sent home after a setback in his right knee recovery, according to cricket.com.au, and Josh Tongue is also out with a toe injury. Australia are missing their own big names too: Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are being rested for the Test season.
What happened
Bethell (knee) and Tongue (toe) are out of England’s white-ball tour. James Coles and Eddie Jack have been called up and were due in Perth on 12 November. The series runs Perth (13 Nov), Adelaide (15 Nov) and Hobart (18 Nov).
So this is two second-string bowling attacks and two strong batting line-ups. That is the story of the series before a ball is bowled, and it is why we think the bat will dominate.
The Bethell problem goes beyond these ODIs
Losing Bethell for three ODIs and five T20Is is annoying for England. The bigger worry is that he is now in doubt for England’s Test tour of South Africa, which starts in December, according to cricket.com.au.
There is a World Cup thread here as well. England play the 2027 tournament in South Africa, and Bethell’s left-arm spin and lower-order hitting gave them balance. Every month he misses is a month of ODI cricket in hand for someone else. Coles, an all-rounder, now gets the first look.
Schedule and squads
| Match | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 1st ODI | Fri 13 Nov | Perth Stadium |
| 2nd ODI | Sun 15 Nov | Adelaide Oval |
| 3rd ODI | Wed 18 Nov | Bellerive Oval, Hobart |
All three are day-night games. Cricket.com.au lists first ball at 2:30 PM AEDT, which works out to 9:00 AM IST and 8:30 AM in Pakistan. A five-match T20I series follows from 21 November to 2 December.
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Ollie Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa.
England: Harry Brook (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Eddie Jack, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root.
Nathan Ellis is also missing for Australia with a side strain, and Cameron Green may not bowl because of a shoulder issue. We covered why Australia rested their three senior quicks in our earlier story on the Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood decision.
The numbers that point to runs
- Harry Brook hit 202 off 116 balls in Pakistan’s ODI tri-series last month.
- Ben Duckett made 167 off 132 in his last ODI innings.
- Joe Root has 680 ODI runs in 2026 at an average of 85, and Perth will be his 200th ODI.
- Xavier Bartlett leads Australia’s attack with 23 wickets in 12 ODIs. Beardman, 21, could debut.
All figures are from cricket.com.au’s series preview. One note of caution: Perth Stadium has a low average first-innings score of about 171 in its short ODI history, so the first game may not follow the script.
Our take
England look the stronger ODI side on paper for this series. Archer, Atkinson and Rashid are a more experienced attack than Bartlett, Johnson and a possible debutant. Australia’s batting with Head, Marsh, Inglis and Green can chase anything, though. We expect England to edge it, but the real value for both teams is depth. Less than 11 months before a World Cup in South Africa, finding a fourth seamer and a spinning all-rounder matters more than the trophy.
Sources
- cricket.com.au: Jacob Bethell ruled out of ODI and T20 series against Australia
- cricket.com.au: Australia v England first ODI preview
- cricket.com.au: Australia v England ODIs 2026 series page
About this story. Written by the T20 Cricinfo desk from the sources listed above. Squads, injuries and fixtures were checked against cricket.com.au; the IST and Pakistan start times are our conversion of the listed AEDT time.
