Beardman to sit out second ODI amid Aussie pace changes

Mahli Beardman will sit out Sunday's second ODI against England in Adelaide as Australia continue to tightly manage the workloads of their rising speedster.

Beardman scorched England with an incredible six-wicket haul in Friday's series opener in Perth, returning the best figures (6-24) by an Australian on ODI debut in the hosts' seven-wicket win.

But given the 21-year-old tearaway's history with back injuries – he recently spent seven months on the sidelines with a recurrence of a stress fracture following his T20 international debut – Australia are understandably being cautious with their future star.

A Cricket Australia spokesperson said Beardman was continuing to "build capacity following recent injuries" and confirmed he would return to the XI for the third ODI in Hobart on Wednesday.

Australia XI: Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis (wk), Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green, Jack Edwards, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Riley Meredith

 

England XI: Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jordan Cox (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Jofra Archer

Riley Meredith, who joined the ODI squad in Adelaide for the final two games of the series, replaced Beardman in Australia's XI for the second ODI.

Meredith is coming off a four-wicket haul for Tasmania after playing the first three days of their Sheffield Shield loss to Queensland before being pulled out for national duties.

Meanwhile, Tasmanian white-ball quick Nathan Ellis has been ruled out of the five T20Is that follow the ODI series having not yet fully recovered from a side strain.

Ellis injured his left side in Australia's 1-2 ODI series loss to South Africa in September, missing the final match in Potchefstroom.

Left-armer Ben Dwarshuis has replaced Ellis in Australia's T20 squad and will be a chance to play his first international match since June's ODI series in Bangladesh. The five-game series kicks off in Melbourne on Saturday.

Beardman is also in the squad for the T20 series but doesn't have a set workload across the eight matches against England despite missing the second ODI.

"I'm just trying to play as much cricket as I can, and if that's permitted by the physios and the (support) staff, then that's what we'll do moving forward," he said after his player-of-the-match performance in the series opener.

Australia v England ODI & T20I Series 2026

First ODI: Australia won by seven wickets

Second ODI: November 15, Adelaide Oval, 2:30pm AEDT (D/N)

Third ODI: November 18, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:30pm AEDT (D/N)

Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Riley Meredith, Ollie Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa

England squad: Harry Brook (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Eddie Jack, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root

First T20I: November 21, MCG, 7:15pm AEDT

Second T20I: November 24, Gold Coast Stadium, 7:15pm AEDT

Third T20I: November 27, The Gabba, 7:15pm AEDT

Fourth T20I: November 29, SCG, 7:15pm AEDT

Fifth T20I: December 2, Manuka Oval, 7:15pm AEDT

Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Spencer Johnson, Mitch Owen, Lachlan Shaw, Adam Zampa

England squad: Harry Brook (c), Tom Banton, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Henry Crocombe, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Aneurin Donald, Eddie Jack, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Thomas Rew, Phil Salt, Luke Wood.