England v Australia T20I series: Hazlewood back to boost Aussies

Having demolished Scotland 3-0 in their T20I series, Australia head south to take on England in three 20-over contests, with the first of the treble set for the early hours of Thursday morning at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.

The series continues at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Saturday, before drawing to a close at Old Trafford, Manchester in the early hours of Monday morning, with Australia 1.72 to win the series outright.

The Baggy Greens head into the contests having shown no mercy as they saw off the Saltires in impressive fashion, winning by seven wickets, 70 runs and six wickets respectively at The Grange in Edinburgh.

Travis Head and Josh Inglis led the way with the bat, while a number of back-up seamers were handed opportunities to impress with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all absent.

Hazlewood back to boost pace options

While Cummins and Starc were pencilled in to sit out the games in Scotland, Hazlewood was initially named in the squad, only to be ruled out by a calf strain, with Riley Meredith taking his place.

Sean Abbott had already stepped in to replace Spencer Johnson, who misses the whole UK tour due to a side strain, while Nathan Ellis has now joined him on the sidelines due to a hamstring problem.

That latest blow sees Meredith stay with the squad for the three T20Is at least, with the same initial squad having been named for the 20-over clashes with England as was involved in the games against Scotland.

The return of Hazlewood should provide a major boost for the tourists, with the paceman having taken 65 wickets in 51 T20I appearances to date, although only two of those outings have come in England.

He is available at 4.50 to be Top Team Bowler in the series, with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis priced at 8.50, having five wickets at a average of 9.40 and an economy rate of 6.13 against Scotland.

For some of the batters this series offers a final opportunity to shine on this tour, with Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short and Steven Smith all involved in the upcoming five-match ODI series.

Inglis certainly has the chance to nail down a position as a top-order batter as well as keeping wicket, having shown his ability with a superb 103 from just 76 balls in the second T20I against Scotland.

He has already been included in the ODI squad, but can load more pressure on Jake Fraser-McGurk as Australia seek a long-term replacement for David Warner.

Inglis is 6.00 to be Top Team Batter against England, while Fraser-McGurk is just ahead of him at 5.50.

Salt steps up for injured Buttler

The home side will be skippered by opening batter Phil Salt for the three T20Is against Australia, with Jos Buttler still recovering from a calf injury, while Marcis Trescothick stands in as interim coach following the departure of Matthew Mott.

Buttler is joined on a watching brief by Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan, who have all been omitted, with Warwickshire all-rounder Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley handed first international calls.

Hampshire's John Turner is also set for an international debut, while fellow seamer Saqib Mahmood is back in the fold after a two-year struggle with back problems.

Left-arm quick Josh Hull gets a chance to impress after making his Test debut against Sri Lanka, but Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Matthew Potts are all left out due to the short turnaround after the clashes with the Islanders.

Express paceman Mark Wood is also absent as he is suffering with a bone stress injury in his right elbow which will keep him out for at least the rest of the calendar year.

England are 2.10 to take the series honours, with the two sides having met 24 times previously in 20-over internationals, winning 11 games apiece and seeing two matches end in no result.