Champions Trophy: England versus Australia the game ‘you always relish’, says Joe Root ahead of opening match

Joe Root is relishing England’s opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy against an under-strength Australia, saying “it’s always a good time” to play their Ashes rivals.

On Saturday – live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am (first ball, 9am) – England take on an Australia side missing their captain Pat Cummins (ankle), fellow fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood (hip), Mitchell Starc (personal reasons), and all-rounders Mitchell Marsh (back), Cameron Green (back) and Marcus Stoinis (retired).

Australia also enter the Champions Trophy on the back of successive ODI defeats to a Sri Lanka side that have not even qualified for the tournament. Not that England will be taking them lightly.

Live ICC Champions Trophy Cricket

Saturday 22nd February 8:30am

“It’s always a good time to play Australia,” Root told Sky Sports ahead of Saturday’s clash. “It’s the one game, whatever the format, which as an England player you always relish.

“You’ve always got to respect every opponent you come up against, and just because it’s not the guys that have played for the last 10 years that everyone knows inside out, it doesn’t mean they’re not good players and they’re not good performers that can win games on this stage.

“Clearly, there’s a huge amount of respect there but, at the same time, there’s also that inner confidence that we have the ability to take on not just them, but every other team in this tournament.”

England have had their own struggles ahead of the Champions Trophy, suffering seven defeats in eight on their recent white-ball tour of India, including a 3-0 sweep in the ODIs – a fourth-straight ODI bilateral series loss.

But Root doubled down on his belief that this England side are capable of beating anyone on their day and lifting the Champions Trophy come the tournament’s end on March 9.

“The thing that excites me most is the talent that we’ve got within the squad,” Root said. “You look at the ability that’s there, and you know what guys are capable of.

“Clearly, we could take anyone on in the world, and that’s an exciting place to be as a team. It’s just about going out there and doing it now.”

Buttler backs ‘incredible talent’ Smith to thrive at No 3

England captain Jos Buttler has backed “incredible talent” Jamie Smith to thrive in his new position at No 3 in the order ahead of their opening match against Australia.

Smith, who will take over as wicketkeeper too from opener Phil Salt, has never previously batted higher than No 5 in his 18 international appearances to date and has only batted there for county side Surrey once in List A cricket.

“We just feel it’s a nice position to give him a free hit to try and really impact the game in that top three,” Buttler said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“Jamie is an incredible talent who has taken to international cricket so well. You can place him in that position to try and have a really big impact with a number of guys behind him.

“He’s obviously got the game technically and, tactically, the head on his shoulders is one of his biggest strengths.

“I think you could ask him to bat anywhere in the line-up and it wouldn’t faze him.”

Athers: Huge tournament for Buttler as captain

Buttler is a man in need of a good tournament, according to former England captain and Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton.

Buttler, who took over from 50-over World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan in June 2022, led the team to T20 World Cup glory later that year.

But England’s defence of both World Cup crowns, in 2023 and 2024 respectively, were pretty abject, particularly their group stage exit in the 50-over format in which they won only three of their nine games.

“It’s a huge two or three weeks [for Buttler], because of those two ICC tournaments that England have gone through recently,” Atherton said.

“Butler, remember, is a World Cup-winning captain, so that is absolutely in his favour, while he is a great white-ball cricketer who would get into England’s all-time best XI.

“But as captain of the side, he’s led them through two poor ICC events. The defence of their 50-over crown in India in late 2023 was a pretty shambolic tournament from an England perspective.

“The T20 tournament in the Caribbean last summer wasn’t quite so bad, but you wouldn’t say that they beat anybody of note, and they didn’t play to their potential.

“You look at this team on paper, and it looks a very good team – albeit maybe not quite what it was in those glory days under Eoin Morgan – and therefore it’s the management’s job to make sure that the team is playing to its potential.”

Watch live coverage of England’s opening game of the ICC Champions Trophy against Australia, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am on Saturday (first ball, 9am). Stream with NOW.

The Artur Beterbiev v Dmitry Bivol rematch will be live on Saturday February 22 on Sky Sports Box Office. Book now!