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Cummins returns to XI as Aussies put in to bat

England return to the scene of their T20 World Cup triumph as Jos Buttler wins the coin toss and opts to bowl at the MCG

Australia have recalled skipper Pat Cummins and allrounder Sean Abbott for Tuesday’s third Dettol ODI at the MCG as they aim to sweep the world's No.1 ranked 50-over side.

Cummins lost the toss under overcast skies in Melbourne in just his second match as Australia's full-time ODI captain with England's Jos Buttler, who himself missed the second ODI, opting to bowl first.

The 29-year-old replaces player-of-the-match from Saturday's second ODI, Mitchell Starc, who has been rested ahead of next week's first NRMA Insurance Test against the West Indies in Perth.


Australia XI: David Warner, Travis Head, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins (c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

England XI: Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (c, wk), Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, David Willey, Olly Stone


The left-armer is a big loss for the hosts after showcasing his exceptional new ball skills with the wickets of Jason Roy and Dawid Malan in the first over England's chase in the previous match at the SCG on his way to 4-47 from eight overs.

Abbott, who replaced Glenn Maxwell in the hosts' squad after he broke his leg on the eve of the series, returns the Australian side for the first time since September's T20 tour of India in place of Ashton Agar.

Agar, and fellow West Australian Josh Inglis, travelled to Canberra following the second ODI to represent the Prime Minister's XI in a day-night four-day fixture at Manuka Oval against the touring West Indians beginning on Wednesday.

Abbott was also due to play that match before being summoned into the ODI squad and has been replaced in the PM's XI side by WA fast bowler Joel Paris.

England have recalled their own skipper, Jos Buttler, and Olly Stone with Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali missing out as they attempt to avoid just their second whitewash to Australia in a multi-game bilateral series, with the first almost 30 years ago in 1993.

Tuesday marks the first time no Victorians will feature in the nation's ODI side in a match at the MCG since a 13-run loss to Sri Lanka on February 29, 2008.

Starc lamented Australia's cluttered schedule following Saturday 72-run win, revealing it would eventually force him to retire from the white-ball formats to prolong his Test career.

Australia's have two Tests against the West Indies and three against South Africa this summer before travelling to India for a four-Test Border-Gavaskar series in February next year.

After that there is the World Test Championship final should Australia qualify followed by the Ashes in England and the men's ODI World Cup hosted India in October-November.

"Tests (are) always first (priority) … far above white-ball," Starc said.

"I'll decide on the rest as I go and where my body's at and how I feel about it.

"I'd love to, selection and form pending, continue playing Test cricket as long as I can.

"It's certainly impossible at the moment to play every game as a three-format player.

"Having (the IPL period) to rest might help me keep bowling at decent speeds for a period of time.

"(But) I don't think playing three formats is something I can do for a long period moving forward." 

Men's Dettol ODI Series v England

1st ODI: Australia won by six wickets

2nd ODI: Australia won by 72 runs

Tuesday Nov 22: MCG, 2:20pm

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

England ODI squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, James Vince, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Luke Wood

Buy #AUSvENG ODI tickets here