🏏ICC Men's T20I WC 2022: Super 12 - Group 1 - ENG vs IRE - 26/10/22🏏 - Page 3

We're in the thick of T20s now but England have named their 15-member squad for the ODIs against Australia following this world cup. Vince and Billings are back, check out the story here.

Pitch Report: It's a fresh pitch, there are shorter boundaries on the off side for a right handed batsman. There is some nice green covering on the pitch, looks really nice for fast bowlers. There's a bit of moisture so there will be some tennis ball bounce. The captains winning the toss would want to chase, cause stats show that fielding first has been the way to go at MCG, says Shane Watson.

Pitch Report: It's a fresh pitch, there are shorter boundaries on the off side for a right-handed batsman. There is some nice green covering on the pitch, looks really nice for fast bowlers. There's a bit of moisture so there will be some tennis ball bounce. The captains winning the toss would want to chase, cause stats show that fielding first has been the way to go at MCG, says Shane Watson.

Jos Buttler and Andy Balbirnie are out. England win the toss and bowl first.

England have won the toss and have opted to field

Ireland (Playing XI): Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie(c), Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little

England (Playing XI): Jos Buttler(w/c), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Andy Balbirnie: We would have wanted to chase as well with the rain around. The message has been clear, we back our plans and try to create some special memories for our fans. (On 2011 win) There are two guys in our group who were part of the U19 World Cup that same year, so there's always hope that we can replicate something similar. One change for us - Fionn Hand comes in for Simi Singh.

Jos Buttler: We're going to bowl first. A bit unsure about the weather so we are going to bowl first. Lots of these grounds in Australia are huge, so fielding is a big part of our preparation. Yes, we play two games in three days here, but we want to stick to our best playing combinations, hence no changes.

Alex Malcolm gives a meticulous sum-up of the conditions: "The weather in Melbourne has been bizarre today. The forecast was for rain all day and thunderstorms. There was very light drizzle, some would call it mizzle, for most of the morning but it is clear now. There are small spots of rain clouds moving in with the westerly wind on the radar but none of it looks particularly ugly. We should get two games in but you never know. It's overcast. It's not cold. It's 19 degrees but 77% humidity. It's a fresh pitch to the eastern side of the one used for India Pakistan. It looks exactly the same in terms of grass and colour. It could be even spicier given it has sat under covers in this humidity overnight."

Thanks for the tag 🤗

15:05 Local Time, 04:05 GMT, 09:35 IST: Good news, the rain has eased. We should start in 10 minutes.

14:57 Local Time, 03:57 GMT, 09:27 IST: The players walk out for the anthems despite the mild showers. The pitch is covered for the moment, might still be a delayed start

14:54 Local Time, 03:54 GMT, 09:24 IST: Oops, just as the players were getting ready for the anthems we have some unwelcome showers. The prediction was always there, hopefully the rain passes quickly.