England faces Australia on Thursday in the first Twenty-20 (T20) match of the series. The match begins at 1:30 p.m. ET (23:00 IST, 17:30 p.m. GMT). Watch the live stream HERE.
England had a clean sheet during the 2013 Ashes against Australia, which lost three matches and forced two draws. The T20 is a different animal, however. Both clubs are 3-3 against each other with one no-result in their previous seven T20 matches, IBTimes reports. They last played in 2011 at Brisbane and Melbourne, splitting the series 1-1.
England plans to rest veteran players Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann and James Anderson. Michael Carberry, Boyd Rankin and Danny Briggs are among the new additions recently called to the team.
Despite sitting key players for the T20 series, England skipper Stuart Broad is confident in the talent on his squad.
"These guys have performed throughout the county season to get a chance at international level," Broad said, via ESPN. "They wouldn't be in the squad if they're not good enough to play and the squad will be very focused on beating Australia."
For Australia, Test and ODI captain Michael Clarke is unlikely to play in the T20 series. Captaincy for the Australian squad goes to George Bailey, whose big-hitting batsmen should give Australia an edge over England.
Projected Squads (via IBTimes):
England: Stuart Broad (c), Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Luke Wright, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, James Tredwell, Jade Dernbach.
Australia: George Bailey (c), David Warner, Shane Watson, Aaron Finch, Adam Voges, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay.
