Australia v Zimbabwe: All you need to know

When does it start? 

Australia's summer of cricket starts earlier than ever before with Zimbabwe the first opponents for three ODIs from Sunday August 28.

Australia hasn't hosted Zimbabwe for an ODI series since January 2004, when they were part of a tri-series that included India. 

Schedule

Zimbabwe won't be in the country for too long, with all three ODIs to be played in seven days:

– August 28: First ODI, Townsville, 9:40am AEST

– August 31: Second ODI, Townsville, 9:40am AEST

– September 3: Third ODI, Townsville, 9:40am AEST

The day matches will start at very friendly 9:40am for the entire eastern seaboard, but mean a 9:10am start for Adelaide and 7:40am for Perth. 

The contest will be followed by a three-match ODI series between Australia and New Zealand to be played in Cairns.

Is it a full-strength Aussie side? 

Pretty much! Although Test captain Pat Cummins has been rested and Travis Head will miss with his partner due to give birth, the rest of the squad is full of first-choice players. 

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa returns after the birth of his first child while Mitch Marsh, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc and Marcus Stoinis all battled injuries on the Sri Lanka tour in June and July but have been named.

Captain Aaron Finch named his team on Saturday afternoon for the first ODI with Zampa, Smith and Starc returning at the expense of Labuschagne, Josh Inglis and Matthew Kuhnemann.

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Australia XI for first ODI: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Steve Smith, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

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How can I watch or listen?

Like all men's white-ball internationals in the country, the series will be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Fox Sports and Kayo subscription services.

Kayo offers a 14-day free trial for new subscribers, and you can sign up for that here.

ABC Grandstand will be providing live radio commentary of the series.

What about live scores, news and highlights?

Where else but cricket.com.au and the CA Live app for everything you'll need for before, during and after each ODI. As well as live scores, we'll have highlights of every key moment to go with reports, breaking news, analysis and interviews from our reporters throughout the tour.

You can also catch up on all the latest news via The Unplayable Podcast, where we will be joined by special guests to dissect all the talking points throughout the series. Listen and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts and anywhere else you get your pods.

Where on earth is Riverway Stadium?

The location of this series is Far North Queensland – about 1,300kms from the nearest Test venue Brisbane. The Australian men have never played at the Riverway Stadium, but there were two ODIs played between Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea here in 2014.

There have been a handful of domestic cricket matches here over the last few years, including a Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup match between Queensland and Tasmania last summer. 

Sunday's opener will also be a tribute to the late Andrew Symonds, who hailed from the area. There will be a minute's silence at the national anthems, and at the innings break Symonds’ family members will walk out to the pitch to lay his baggy green, his bat and his Akubra at the wicket.

How about Zimbabwe? 

Zimbabwe welcome back fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani but are still dealing with some injuries to key players following their recent hectic schedule. Regular captain Craig Ervine will miss with a hamstring injury, fast bowler Tendai Chatara with a collarbone fracture and spinner Wellington Masakadza with a shoulder complaint.

But there are some in-form players in their squad. Experienced allrounder Sikandar Raza has three centuries in his last six ODIs and left-armer Richard Ngarava has been leading the attack admirably in the absence of Muzarabani and Chatara.

Squads

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Zimbabwe: Regis Chakabva (c), Ryan Burl, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.

What's the head-to-head? 

As you might expect, Australia historically dominates when these two sides meet. From 30 meetings, Australia have won 27 and lost two (with one ‘no result’). Interestingly though, Zimbabwe's wins bookend the two nations' head-to-head history, with the African nation winning their first-ever contest against Australia at the World Cup in 1983, and their most recent encounter in Zimbabwe in 2014. 

The two sides didn't meet at the 2015 World Cup in Australia meaning the Aussies haven't hosted Zimbabwe for an ODI since January 2004. 

Image Id: E0489CE4D4864F68B88F8D05945E9319 Image Caption: Marnus Labuschagne training in the Townsville nets on Wednesday

Form guide

Australia's form in the ODI arena has been patchy at best since the pandemic, due largely to the large gaps between series. In fact, you have to go back to November and December of 2020 to find the last home ODI series by this team, which was an impressive 2-1 win over India. It wasn't until July 2021 that Australia travelled to the Caribbean and defeated the West Indies 2-1 with a side missing a host of first-choice players. It was then another nine months before their next ODI series; this time a 2-1 loss in Pakistan which was followed by a 3-2 series loss in Sri Lanka. 

Since the start of 2021, Zimbabwe have played 18 ODIs, seven more than Australia in that same period and they have been particularly busy this August, having already played six matches. Although they lost 3-0 at home to Afghanistan in June, the Chevrons found form in early August with a 2-1 series win over Bangladesh with Sikandar Raza leading the way with a pair of centuries. India then arrived and won the first two ODIs comfortably before a spirited home side pushed the cricketing superpower all the way in the third and final match, with India just won by 13 runs.

ODI Super League

The what? In case you missed it, qualification for next year's ODI World Cup in India is dependent on the standings in the ODI Super League. Essentially, the top eight teams automatically qualify and the bottom five play off for the remaining two spots. The series looms as fairly important for both sides, with neither party setting the world on fire in the 'league' so far. Australia sit eighth with 70 points while Zimbabwe are in 12th position on 35 points. 

Kit watch

Australia will roll out the Indigenous-themed kit they wore in the Pakistan ODI series.

The design, which is also available for purchase as an authentic replica kit, was first worn by Meg Lanning's Australian team in their three ODIs against England in February.

Purchase a replica of the Indigenous kit via the Official Cricket Shop.

Image Id: https://www.cricket.com.au/~/media/News/2021/11/24Indigenous-Kit-embed?la=en&hash=F17AF454121DC0833506E8E02C9B2A07E5AC2E2F

Men's Dettol ODI Series v Zimbabwe

Sunday Aug 28: Riverway Stadium, Townsville, 9:40am

Wednesday Aug 31: Riverway Stadium, Townsville, 9:40am

Saturday Sep 3: Riverway Stadium, Townsville, 9:40am

Australia squad: Aaron Finch, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Zimbabwe squad: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (c), Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.

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