MANCHESTER: Persistent rain meant the third Twenty20 international between England and Australia at Old Trafford on Sunday was abandoned without a ball being bowled as the series ended all square at 1-1.

The match was due to get underway at 2:30pm local time (1330 GMT).

However, with rain falling for several hours in Manchester on Sunday morning both the toss and match itself were put on hold, with deep puddles forming on the covers protecting the pitch and square.

The official cut-off time for a five-overs per side match, the minimum length required to force a decisive result, was 5:46pm (1646 GMT).

But a fresh downpour shortly before a planned pitch inspection led the umpires to abandon the match at 4:18pm (1518 GMT).

The three-match series finished level at 1-1 after Liam Livingstone’s 87 helped England win the second T20 in Cardiff on Friday following Australia’s commanding 28-run success in Wednesday’s opener in Southampton.

England now face 50-over world champions Australia in a five-match One-day International series starting at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge on Thursday.

Brook captain for Australia ODIs

Harry Brook is set to captain England for the first time in the series after Jos Buttler’s persistent calf injury ruled him out, team management announced Sunday.

Buttler has not played a competitive match since defending champions England lost a T20 World Cup semi-final against India in Guyana in June.

He has been now forced to miss both the T20 series with Australia and the subsequent five-game ODI contest.

Brook has only 15 caps in ODI cricket, but England already regard him as a future long-term leader, with the 25-year-old Yorkshire batsman having captained their youth side at the 2018 Under-19 World Cup.

Brook also served as Ollie Pope’s vice-captain during England’s recent 2-1 Test series win over Sri Lanka.

His appointment as ODI captain means England will have deployed a new skipper in all three international formats this season.

Pope took over as Test captain from Ben Stokes when the all-rounder’s hamstring injury meant he missed the whole of the Sri Lanka series, with Phil Salt leading the T20 side after Buttler was sidelined.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for Brooky to be the captain,” Buttler told Sky Sports. “He is a pretty laid-back character, but I think he has everything in line. He is a really good thinker about it... I’m sure he’ll do that his own way, and he’ll get a feel for those moments (in games).”

Buttler, aiming for an England return during their November tour of the Caribbean, said of his recovery from injury: “It’s a bit slower than hoped. I’m going to be missing the ODI series as well, so that’s a shame. But at my age, I’ve just got to make sure I get it right...There’s lots to look forward to in the future.”

After England’s woeful defences of both their 50-over and T20 world titles, questions were asked over whether Buttler should continue to carry the triple burden of captaining, keeping wicket and opening the batting in white-ball internationals.

He confirmed Sunday he would not have been behind the stumps had he been fit for the T20s, following discussions with incoming limited-overs coach Brendon McCullum — already in charge of England’s Test side and himself a former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman.

“Having spoken to Baz (McCullum) about it, he stumbled across it with injury preventing him from keeping wicket, but then he really enjoyed being next to the bowler at mid-off,” Buttler said. He added: “I just want what’s best for the team: what’s best for the team is going to be me being the best captain I can be, and if I have to move from behind the wickets to do that then so be it.”

Josh Hull, the 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler who made his Test debut in the Sri Lanka series finale at the Oval earlier this month, had been due to be a member of the 50-over squad but has suffered a quad injury and will rest ahead of next month’s trip to Pakistan.

Livingstone, initially dropped from the ODI squad, has been recalled after two notable T20 performances against Australia.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024