Australian batsman Steve Smith on Sunday said that playing without crowds will present a different challenge to him during the series against England. His remark came as the Australian contingent left for the UK on Sunday. Australia and England will be locking horns against each other in three T20Is and three ODIs, beginning September 4.

The T20Is will be played at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton while the ODIs will take place at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. All these matches will be played behind closed doors.

“I do like batting there, unfortunately, there’s going to be no crowd there to egg me on and give me a bit more motivation. I’ve watched a bit of the Tests England have played, and we know their white-ball cricket over the last few years has been exceptional, so it’s going to be a good series. I’m looking forward to getting back into it, obviously, it’s going to be a bit different than what we’re used to being in a bubble and playing with no crowds,” cricket.com.au quoted Smith as saying.

“That presents a challenge in itself, but one we’re looking forward to. It’ll be interesting to see how long the bubble(s) lasts for, how long we’re going to have to be in that. We’re lucky to be able to go and play, we’ll just do what we need to and play it day by day, stick together as a bunch and help each other out,” he added.

Australia has named a 21-man squad for the upcoming limited-over series against England.

Australian men’s team Senior Assistant Coach Andrew McDonald will not travel with the squad to the UK to fulfill a pre-existing commitment as head coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

McDonald will resume his duties with the Australian men’s team at the conclusion of the IPL.

Promoted

Experienced CA High-Performance Coach Troy Cooley and Melbourne Stars WBBL Head Coach Trent Woodhill will provide coaching support to Justin Langer throughout the tour, in addition to Performance Analyst Dene Hills, Selector George Bailey, and the broader team support staff.

Australia Squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (vice capt), 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.