What is it?
2019 World Cup group stage match
Who is playing?
England v Australia
When is it?
Today, 1.30pm (UAE time) start
Where is it being played?
Lord's, London
How to watch in UAE?
Tune in to OSN Sports Cricket HD or create an online account with Wavo for US$54 (a little less than Dh200). The account will provide customers access to two channels, OSN Cric Xtra 1 and OSN Cric Xtra 2.
What’s their head-to-head like?
Matches: 147
England won: 61
Australia won: 81
Tied: 2
No results: 3
Form guide (past five games):
England: LWWWL
Australia: WWWLW
What they said:
Eoin Morgan, England captain, on the chances England fans will boo Steve Smith and David Warner: "Just because two guys have been punished, served their punishment and returned to play, it doesn't mean they will be accepted back into the cricket community straight away. It will take time."
Aaron Finch, Australia captain, on the chances England fans will boo Steve Smith and David Warner: "Whether someone comes out and says do or don't, it's going to happen regardless anyway. It hasn't affected our boys one bit. I can honestly say that. If anything it's given them a bit more motivation. As a player you don't tend to hear a hell of a lot of stuff from the fans."
Likely XIs:
England: Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood.
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.
Summary:
This is perhaps the biggest match-up in the 2019 Cricket World Cup - even bigger than India-Pakistan - given the form of both teams and the fact the head-to-head record in the biggest tournament for the sport is less lopsided: Australia have won seven of their meetings as opposed to England's two.
This time, though, England have an edge over the defending champions - partly because they are hosts and partly due to their recent form. Australia are not the team they were in the 1990s and 2000s so Eoin Morgan's men will fancy their chances.
It will be interesting to watch whether England's aggressive brand of cricket will prevail over Australia's more conservative approach; the fact the arch-rivals have, in a way, exchanged their playing philosophies itself makes for a fascinating subplot.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on whether spectators will boo and heckle Steve Smith and David Warner, the Australian duo having returned from suspension for their respective roles in ball-tampering scandal that marred the Cape Town Test against South Africa last year.
