Morgan begins mind games by declaring Aussies favourites

Eoin Morgan has declared his England side the underdogs in the upcoming T20 international series against Australia, who have not played a competitive match in six months.

The three-match series, beginning 3am Saturday morning AEST, is Australia's first white-ball match since the first ODI against New Zealand in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while England have played three ODIs against Ireland and two-and-a-half T20Is against Pakistan in the past five weeks.

But Morgan says Australia, the No.1 T20 side in the world, should be considered favourites for the T20I series because they have brought over a full-strength squad, while England will be without guns Jason Roy (injury) and Ben Stokes (personal reasons).

"Probably Australia because they have their strongest squad here, so they'll probably be putting out their best XI," Morgan said on match eve when asked who he considers favourites for the series.

"If you're to go on that I'd say they're just favourites."

England drew the T20I series with Pakistan 1-1 having previously beaten Ireland 2-1 in the one-dayers.

The last time Australia and England met in a T20I was in a one-off match at Edgbaston in 2018, which England won by 28 runs to cap off a miserable tour for the Australians, who were swept 5-0 in Justin Langer's first campaign as head coach after he was hired in the wake of the ball tampering incident.

While Australia have won five of the past seven T20Is against England, those five wins were on home soil. You have to go back to August 2013 for Australia's most recent T20I win over England on their turf, which was when Finch went ballistic to hit a world record 156 at Southampton, the same venue for all three T20Is over the next week.

Morgan says any Englishman relishes a chance to play against Australia, regardless of format, time or place and if there needed to be any extra incentive, a 3-0 series win would elevate England to the No.1 T20 ranking.

"When you grow up watching Ashes cricket or any game against Australia it's always built up and seen as a pinnacle of anybody's career," Morgan said.

"Regardless of the format that you play there is always a bit more on the line when you play against Australia.

"Given the fact that Australia are normally one of the best sides in the world, I think that's an added caveat to try and pit yourself against the best side in the world.

"So coming out of it, if you do play well and have a good day out or beat them there's always a huge confidence booster with that."

While Morgan did not reveal England's XI, he confirmed Jos Buttler would partner Jonny Bairstow at the top of the order in the absence of Roy, who is out with a side injury.

Morgan, one week shy of his 34th birthday, handed the trio of Roy, Bairstow and Buttler perhaps the ultimate compliment for their achievements in the coloured clothes of their country. 

"We feel that Jason, Jonny and Jos are three of our greatest-ever white-ball players," Morgan said.

"They're unbelievable strikers of the ball, they're batsmen that you do not want to bowl against.

"So if one out of the three of them gets going past the first six overs of the powerplay and into those middle overs it puts us in a really strong position for the last 14."

2020 Tour of England

Australia's T20 and ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood. Reserves: Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. Reserves: Joe Denly, Saqib Mahmood

September 4: 1st T20, Southampton, 3am AEST Sept 5

September 6: 2nd T20, Southampton, 11.15pm AEST

September 8: 3rd T20, Southampton, 3am AEST Sept 9

September 11: 1st ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST

September 13: 2nd ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST

September 16: 3rd ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST