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.

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 to kick off in Melbourne on Saturday.

Riley Meredith has also joined the ODI squad in Adelaide for the final two games of the series. 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.

The express right-armer and South Australian allrounder Liam Scott loom as the likely options to replace Beardman in the starting line-up for the second ODI.

Rapid stats

• Australia have won 10 of their past 12 men's ODIs against England including their past three in a row; Australia have won the toss and elected to bowl in each of those past three matches in that span.
  
  
• England have lost 15 of their past 18 men's ODIs outside of England; their only three away wins in that span have been against Sri Lanka.
  
  
• Australia have won four of their past five men's ODIs in Australia, winning the toss in all five of those matches; they had lost four consecutive games in Australia prior to that span.
  
  
• Australia have alternated between wins and losses in their past five men's ODIs at Adelaide Oval, including a six-wicket win over England in that span (November 2022); England have lost seven of their past eight games at the venue.
  
  
• Spinners have averaged 68.1 runs per wicket in men's ODIs at Adelaide Oval since the start of 2015, the highest rate of any ground in the world that has hosted at least 10 matches in that span.
  
  
• England only scored 131 runs in the opening match of this current series after scoring at least 200 runs in their previous nine matches when batting first; in fact, the last time they scored fewer first innings runs in the format was 110 against India in July 2022.
  
  
• Australia have taken at least eight wickets in 11 of their past 12 men's ODIs when bowling first; this has included dismissing the opposition all out in three games in that span.
  
  
• Mahli Beardman took 6-24 in the series opener, becoming the first Australian to take a men's ODI five-wicket haul before their 22nd birthday; the previous best performance under that age was when Mitchell Starc took 4-27 against Sri Lanka (November 2010).
  
  
• Ben Duckett (England) has scored 479 runs in men's ODIs against Australia, the most against any opponent; prior to the opening match of the current series, he had scored two consecutive centuries against Australia – 107 (September 2024) and 165 (Febraury 2025).
  
  
• Spencer Johnson (Australia) has taken multiple wickets in three of his past four men's ODIs; he has taken a total of eight wickets at an average of 23.1 in those games.

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, Jack Edwards, Nathan Ellis, 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.