Australia eying better ODI rankings in upcoming series against England
Aug 26, 2020
Derbyshire [UK], Aug 26 : Ahead of the limited-overs series against England, Australia's white-ball skipper Aaron Finch said that the side will focus on improving the ODI rankings keeping in mind the 2023 50-over World Cup in India.
Australia are placed fifth in the ODI team rankings. World Champion England acquire the top spot followed by India, New Zealand and South Africa.
"One-day cricket we haven't been where we need to be in the world rankings and been as consistent. We've been doing a lot of work on that over the last couple of months as management, with myself involved in that as well. We feel as though we have a style that can win us that World Cup and to keep implementing that over a long period of time and becoming second nature will be really important," ESPNcricinfo quoted Finch as saying.
However, Australia lead the T20I team rankings with the number one spot. The T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for later this year, was postponed and will now take place in 2022. The next T20 World Cup will now be in India in 2021
"Having got to number one in the world in T20 cricket we want to stay there and keep improving on our game. We feel our game plan has been really solid for quite a while and we're really comfortable how that looks for various conditions and opponents," Finch said.
The right-handed batsman feels it will be a challenge for the players to play after the break of more than five months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Coming off such a long layoff - it's going to be really important for us to get together again and have a real high intensity hit out. Between myself and [vice-captain] Pat Cummins, we will sit down and pick a couple of sides later today," Finch said.
"First up it's about getting a little bit of rust out, we haven't played a competitive match for five months. I know guys will be feeling their way back so we have to understand that, but so long as we keep improving and every opportunity we get to perform that we learn from that...then we'll be on the right track," he added.
England will host Australia for three T20Is and as many ODIs, beginning September 4.
The T20Is will be played at the Ageas Bowl while the ODIs will take place at Old Trafford. All the matches will be played behind closed doors.
