Australia begin their tour of the UK on Wednesday when they embark on the first of three T20 internationals with Scotland, with the series beginning in Edinburgh with the 50 over world champions vastly expected to win.
Scotland have three chances here to really make a name for themselves and having given a good account in the T20 World Cup earlier in the year, they will be looking to show that they can kick on and become something of an improved force in this format of the game.
Scotland
Scotland showed at the World Cup that they can trouble the big teams. They looked to have England exactly where they wanted them before the rain came in one of the matches and then they gave Australia a good test when they met and would have gone through to the latter stages had England not blitzed a couple of teams in the group. Nevertheless, Scotland are in a position where they should be regulars at that competition now and this is a chance to once again show they can challenge the big boys.
If there is a concern over Scotland at this level it is that their bowling can go the distance. They will be helped a little by the slower conditions and the lower bounce which Australia might need time to acclimatise to but you get the feeling that if the Scots are going to get over the line in this match then their batters, and their top order especially, are going to need to come off. This is a high scoring ground so that is possible but it is a big ask.
Australia
Clearly these three matches are not the highest level of importance on this tour for Australia with three T20 matches and five ODIs with England coming up later in the month, but they are a good way to warm up in a more competitive environment than playing a couple of county sides who are likely to rest players because of the stage that the County Championship is at. This is a much changed squad for the T20s than the one which went to the World Cup so it will be interesting to see how they cope at this level.
You would imagine that any bowling unit that Australia put out is going to be a good one when you consider the depth that they have in that department across all of the formats really not just this one but attack leaders like Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have all been rested for this series so it will be interesting to see how the less experienced bowlers cope. This looks a pretty strong batting unit who should enjoy the attack they are facing and the conditions they face them in.
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Team News
Scotland have named a pretty strong squad for this series despite some of their players having county commitments at the minute. Michael Jones is in the squad but depending on how late he arrives after playing for Durham will determine whether he plays in this series opener.
Australia have left their big three seamers of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood out of this series so the attack will be led by the likes of Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith and Sean Abbott. Jake Fraser-McGurk is in the squad for the first time.
Betting
I’m going to take a bit of a watching brief on this one to see how the sides line up and what the conditions are like up in Edinburgh. If they are normal I would expect to see a high scoring series but we don’t know for sure that Michael Jones gets up there in time after his exploits at The Oval on Tuesday evening and there might be the odd shower around too which isn’t going to help anyone. I will go with a small bet on one of the player markets though.
That comes in the form of the 3/1 that Adam Zampa is the leading wicket taker for Australia. I keep on making the point that associate nations don’t face quality leg spin too often and Zampa has just been the leading wicket taker in The Hundred so we know he is in excellent touch. There is nothing in the seam department to worry the Scottish batters so it might well be that the Zampa overs are the important ones in the innings. The 3/1 on him being the top bowler with the form he is in is just too big.
Tips
Back A.Zampa Top Australia Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 4.00 with Bet365
