Zampa picks up where he left off in strong return

Fatherhood hasn't slowed Adam Zampa down with the leg-spinner claiming another three-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in Townsville on Wednesday.

After skipping Australia's tour to Sri Lanka for the birth of his first child Eugene in June, Zampa has returned to international cricket and picked up where he left off.

In the opening Dettol ODI against Zimbabwe at Riverway Stadium on Sunday, the leg-spinner took three middle-order wickets to finish with 3-57 from 10 overs.

He followed that up with 3-21 in Australia's big eight-wicket win on Wednesday.

Baby Eugene and wife Harriet were in attendance in Townsville as the 30-year-old put the finishing touches on Zimbabwe's all-out innings of 96.

"I probably wasn't at my best in the first game," Zampa told cricket.com.au after Australia's win on Wednesday.

"After not playing much cricket for a while it does feel quite alien.

"It's nice to get a few overs under the belt. I felt better today."

Zampa has enjoyed a rapid rise over the last three years in the 50-over format and looms as a key component in the Aussies' plans to win back the ODI World Cup in India next year, just as he was in their breakthrough T20 World Cup victory last year.

While Zampa's first 48 ODIs brought him 65 wickets at a modest average of 36.35, since the start of 2020 he's taken 44 wickets in 21 ODIs at an average of just 22.47.

Of the Test-playing nations, only Alzarri Joseph from the West Indies has more in that period.

He was just as destructive during last year's successful T20 World Cup, snaring 13 wickets in seven matches at an economy of 5.81, bettered only by Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga (16 wickets in eight games).

With both the 20-over (October 2022) and 50-over (October 2023) World Cups on the horizon, Zampa will have a big say in Australia's fortunes during those tournaments.

"We're trying to build towards that 2023 World Cup, in particular," Zampa said.

"Any cricket's good leading up to this T20 World Cup.

"We've got a little trip to India soon and then five T20s at home before the World Cup. So there's plenty of cricket coming up."

Melbourne Stars teammate Glenn Maxwell was full of praise of Zampa following the first one-dayer in Townsville despite initially struggling with the conditions.

"He didn't hit the stumps as much as he would've liked," Maxwell told reporters after Australia's win on Sunday.

"He felt like with the bounce of the pitch he couldn't hit the stumps as much as he normally does.

"It just shows how good he is, when's he's having an off day he still has a positive effect on the outcome."

Ashton Agar was Australia's one inclusion for the second game of the series, coming into the line-up in place of the injured Mitch Marsh.

The left-armer took 1-15 from his three overs in his first international since injuring his side at the beginning of the Sri Lanka tour.

Together with Zampa and Maxwell, he could form part of the spin contingent that is tasked with winning the ODI World Cup in the subcontinent.

"It's always nice playing with Ash," Zampa said.

"He's had a bit of a poor run of it with some injuries and some covid in Pakistan.

"He's missed out on his opportunity in ODI cricket so it's always nice to play with him.

"Ash and I are really close so we work well together."

Men's Dettol ODI Series v Zimbabwe

First ODI: Australia won by five wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by eight wickets

Saturday Sep 3: Riverway Stadium, Townsville, 9:40am

Australia squad: Aaron Finch, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Zimbabwe squad: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (c), Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.

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