With the Champions Trophy less than three weeks away, we look at how the Australians are preparing
Where in the world are the Aussies?
As the opening encounter of their Champions Trophy campaign nears, Australia’s 15-player squad finds itself spread over three continents in the lead-in to the showpiece tournament.
Captain Steve Smith along with five other One-Day International squad members remain firmly in the hunt for Indian Premier League glory.
Smith and Adam Zampa’s Rising Pune Supergiant, David Warner and Moises Henriques’ Sunrisers Hyderabad, Glenn Maxwell’s Kings XI Punjab and Chris Lynn’s Kolkata Knight Riders all remain in contention for the IPL title on the final weekend of regular-season matches.
The playoffs begin Tuesday with the final to be held on May 21.
Three more Champions Trophy-selected players – Pat Cummins (Delhi Daredevils), Aaron Finch (Gujarat Lions), Travis Head (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – will head to the United Kingdom following their sides’ final respective home-and-away games, with all three of those teams failing to qualify for the playoffs.
Meanwhile four members of the Australia squad have been preparing for the ICC showpiece event on home soil.
Pace pair Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and allrounder Marcus Stoinis, who left the IPL earlier this month after suffering a shoulder injury, have been tuning up at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.
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The quartet – along with Australia’s support staff including head coach Darren Lehmann – fly out for London on Thursday.
The remaining two members of the 15-player squad, quicks James Pattinson and John Hastings, are already in the UK, playing on the county scene with Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire respectively.
Australia play two warm-up matches – against Sri Lanka at The Oval on May 26 and against Pakistan at Edgbaston on May 29 – before their tournament opener against New Zealand in Birmingham on June 2.
While there are a lot of moving pieces in Australia’s preparations for the two-and-a-half week tournament, Smith insisted the IPL has been a valuable launchpad.
"Playing in IPL is great ahead of the Champions Trophy. It is always good to play white-ball cricket before such a big tournament," Smith told Indian reporters.
"Though the format is different, we are playing with world-class players."
Champions Trophy 2017 Guide
Squads: Every Champions Trophy squad named so far
Group A: Australia, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh.
Group B: India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan.
Schedule
Warm-up matches
26 May – Australia v Sri Lanka, The Oval
27 May – Bangladesh v Pakistan, Edgbaston
28 May – India v New Zealand, The Oval
29 May – Australia v Pakistan, Edgbaston
30 May – New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Edgbaston
30 May – Bangladesh vs India, The Oval
Tournament
1 June – England v Bangladesh, The Oval (Day)
2 June – Australia v New Zealand, Edgbaston (D)
3 June – Sri Lanka v South Africa, The Oval (D)
4 June – India v Pakistan, Edgbaston (D)
5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, The Oval (D/N)
6 June – England v New Zealand, Cardiff (D)
7 June – Pakistan v South Africa, Edgbaston (D/N)
8 June – India v Sri Lanka, The Oval (D)
9 June – New Zealand v Bangladesh, Cardiff (D)
10 June – England v Australia, Edgbaston (D)
11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)
12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)
14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)
15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)
18 June – Final, The Oval (D)
19 June – Reserve day (D)