New Delhi: Australia made a surprising pick for the upcoming One-Day Internationals against England by selecting tearaway teen fast bowler Mahli Beardman as a standby player for the high-octane series. The five-match ODI affair between the two rivals begins on September 19, Thursday with the opening match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
Australia’s leading fast bowlers including the likes of Pat Cummins have skipped the England series, which has nothing really at stake.
Several other quicks are also out of the series including the injured duo of Spencer Johnson and Nathan Ellis.
That has prompted the Australian selectors to pick Beardman in an eyebrow-raising move.
Who is Mahli Beardman?
Beardman, a 19-year-old Wester Australian quick, has been thrown into the spotlight despite having experience of playing just one senior professional cricket match.
Beardman is capable of bowling above 140 km/hr consistently and has been mentored by Australia’s pace legend Dennis Lillee. Even the iconic fast bowler found it hard to believe when he heard about Beardman’s selection from one of Australia’s selectors.
His call-up is a result of a Player of the Match performance against India in the U-19 World Cup final earlier this year. Beardman destroyed the Indian batting lineup with a sensational match haul of 3 for 15 in seven overs. His bowling heroics helped Australia crush heavy favourites India in the summit clash by 79 runs.
The pace duo of Beardman and Callum Vidler took seven wickets between them to lead Australia to Under-19 World Cup glory in Benoni.
Australia took revenge for losing twice previously to India in the finals of the Under-19 World Cup (in 2012 and 2018) and ended a 14-year-long wait for the junior world title. Courtesy of the impressive win, Australia registered the third successive ICC finals victory after winning the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 and ODI World Cup.
After a drawn T20I series, England and Australia will reignite their rivalry in the 50-over format.
Know all about Mahli Beardman, the teen quick who has played only professional cricket match and is mentored by Australia’s ionic fast bowler Denis Lille. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
