Scotland opener Michael Jones enjoyed watching Josh Hazlewood’s remark that it would be in the best interest of Australia and other teams if England were eliminated from the Super Eight race hinting his team could play a role in it.
Subsequently, Pat Cummins dismissed it as a tongue-in-cheek remark from Hazlewood adding Australia will never manipulate a game as it’s against the spirit of cricket.
Also Read: Cummins Rejects Prospect of Australia Underperforming to Eliminate England
The prospect of Australia helping Scotland maintain their superior net run-rate (NRR) though is no longer valid after England crushed Oman in style on Thursday to boost their own NRR.
England now have a better NRR (3.081) than that of Scotland (2.164) and all Jos Buttler’s men need to do is to beat Namibia in their final Group B clash besides hoping Scotland not pull off an upset win over Australia.
“I was watching it (Hazlewood’s comments) live actually, laughing to myself,” Jones was quoted as saying by the Press Association.
Former Australia Test captain Tim Paine also quipped that Mitchell Marsh and Co should “go on holiday”.
“I watched that interview and I watched Tim Paine when he was saying they should field half a side. I’m not particularly close to them, I don’t know any of the Australian players, but it would be good if we could have a little word and sort something out,” Jones said.
“The rivalry between England and Australia is massive. If they want to play that way then happy days. We won’t be complaining. If they want to let David Warner open the bowling or something like that it would be pretty funny,” he added.
Jones though is looking forward to facing T20 powerhouse Australia.
“At the end of the day our team wants the best result we can get, but on a personal level you want to challenge yourself against the best,” he said.
“To have the opportunity to bat against Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, then Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, that’s the best in the world. Those are the opportunities we crave as Scotland teams. You want to challenge yourself and see how far you go against those guys,” he added.
Jones expects Australia to come all guns blazing in their final group fixture.
“The Australians are renowned for being extremely diligent and extremely professional. I’m absolutely certain they will come out all guns blazing like they do for every game at every tournament. I almost hope they do go full strength on Saturday and we can show the cricket world we’re up to the challenge. I’m absolutely certain they will come out all guns blazing like they do for every game at every tournament,” he said.
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