- England trust their rivals to advance to the Super Eights on Sunday
- They need to beat Namibia and hope Australia beat Scotland next.
- Hazlewood had suggested his team could score slowly to try to eliminate England.
Pat Cummins has insisted Australia will not go against the “spirit of cricket” by rigging their crucial World Cup match against Scotland on Sunday in a bid to eliminate England.
Fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood had suggested that it would make sense for the Australians to “hit it and lengthen it” if it helped Scotland finish with a higher net run rate than England, a move that would breach the ICC code of conduct. and potentially lead to a suspension for their captain, Mitchell Marsh.
England will play Namibia on Sunday in Antigua, and victory will likely be enough to qualify for the Super Eight, provided Australia beat Scotland in St. Lucia.
But there is still a small chance that this scenario could eliminate England in terms of net performance, even if that scenario is less likely after their thrashing of Oman on Thursday. And Cummins, Australia’s Test captain, felt the need to intervene after Hazlewood’s rude comments and some equally clumsy attempts in the Australian camp to make light of them.
“I discussed it with Joshy, who had made a somewhat joking comment the other day, but I think his comment was taken out of context,” Cummins said. “We will simply focus on playing Scotland, who have had an impressive tournament so far and will be a formidable opponent.
Pat Cummins has insisted Australia will not manipulate their game against Scotland to try to knock England out of the T20 World Cup.
Josh Hazlewood (right) had suggested his team could try to score slowly to ensure England were eliminated.
Jos Buttler’s team are confident their rivals can beat Scotland to reach the Super Eights
‘Net run-rate is one of the peculiar aspects of the tournament we discussed, but it doesn’t change the way we approach the game. When you step on the field you should always be giving your all. Anything less would go against the spirit of cricket.”
The issue remains a bone of contention between the two Ashes rivals following Alex Carey’s defeat of Jonny Bairstow in the Lord’s Test last summer. The third series of Amazon Prime’s The Test, broadcast recently, revealed that Cummins instigated the dismissal, urging Carey to “just have a shot”, although he maintained that he had done nothing to offend the spirit of the game.
England fast bowler Mark Wood said he had no doubt Australia, who have already qualified for the next stage of the World Cup, would do everything they could to beat Scotland.
“I am absolutely sure that they will play the game with all their strength,” he said. “That’s the Australian way: they’ll play hard and fair and try to get the win.”