Australia out to put ODI woes behind them

Australia will seek to put their ODI whitewash behind them and reverse the result with essentially the same squad as the team switches to T20 mode.

Australia face England in a one-off T20 match at Birmingham's Edgbaston Stadium in the early hours of Thursday morning (AEST) where the World No.2 ranked side will hope to gain something from a tour that has so far drawn blanks.

Gone from the T20 squad are ODI players Tim Paine, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Lyon and Michael Neser, and coming into the camp are batsman Nic Maddinson, leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson and allrounder Jack Wildermuth.

Aaron Finch takes the captaincy for the T20 against England the tri-series in Zimbabwe that will also feature Pakistan which follows.

And Alex Carey, who impressed with 44 batting as a specialist batsman in the final ODI, is a certain starter as the squad's wicketkeeper, and he's desperate to see Australia not leave empty handed.

"Losing 5-0 is not acceptable for the Australian cricket team. We don't want that result ever again," Carey said as the squad arrived in the Birmingham.

"(But) our T20 is going really well, we're second in the world at the moment and we want to go one better."

Australia could slip to third on the ICC's T20 team rankings if they slip up against the fifth-ranked England. But even so, a strong showing in Zimbabwe could see them claim the No.1 mantle from the current holders Pakistan.

"With England playing the cricket they are, they're going to be red-hot," said Carey.

"We've got a few new inclusions into the T20 side and I think it's just really exciting, not to start again, but to go out there and show the T20 cricket we are playing is fantastic.

"If we can back up the tri-series we had in New Zealand and against England, we'll be fine."

The T20 squad that won that tri-series in February was captained by David Warner, who is suspended for his role in orchestrating the ball-tampering fiasco in Cape Town.

His ban creates at vacancy at the top of the order, as it did in the ODI side, that Australia is yet to settle on a replacement for.

Warner opened with D'Arcy Short in the T20s with Finch batting in the middle order, as he does with his IPL franchise.

Replicating that in the ODI set-up was a failed experiment for Australia, underlined by Finch's century – a sixth against England – when restored to the top of the order for the fourth ODI.

He seems the most likely candidate to replace Warner at opener, but Australia have plenty of options in a squad stacked with top-order players.

Carey made his name opening for the Adelaide Strikers, as did Short with the Hobart Hurricanes, and Maddinson will likely play as an opener with the Melbourne Stars in the coming BBL season, while Travis Head hit three fifties opening for the ODI team.

"It's going to be what's best for the side," said Carey. "We haven't come up with a team yet but for me whatever role is given is exciting.

"I like coming in and playing against spin and being really busy there. If that's what's best for the side, I'm happy to do that without question.

"Most batters want to be in the top three but the good thing about this side is we're young, we're excited and everyone is happy to play any role for the team."

Australia's T20 against England will be broadcast on GEM from 3.30am AEST on Thursday, June 28. 

Qantas tours of the UK and Zimbabwe

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey

Qantas Tour of the UK

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

June 9: Australia beat Middlesex by 101 runs at Lord's

June 13: England won by three wickets at The Oval

June 16: England won by 38 runs in Cardiff

June 19: England won by 242 runs at Trent Bridge

June 21: England won by six wickets in Durham

June 24: England won by one wicket at Old Trafford

June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)

Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe

July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 2: Pakistan vs Australia

July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 5: Pakistan vs Australia

July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 8: Final