Australian Middle-Order Has Struggled In Limited-Overs: Adam Gilchrist

Australia are currently up against England in the first of three-match ODI series at the Old Trafford in Manchester. Australia will look to better their performance from the T20Is and beat England. The T20I series ended on a disappointing note for the visiting side as they lost the series 2-1.

Australian legend Adam Gilchrist believes that the middle-order has been a major concern for the current unit. He also said that in the ODI, Australia have struggled particularly against the spinners as their run-rate has gone down.

“(The middle overs) has been a little bit of a handbrake for the Australians in the one-day format for a number of years, particularly against the spinning ball. Not only does the run rate come down but they tend to lose wickets in clumps – we saw that with the collapse in the first T20. I think that’s the area where other teams have tended to be accelerating and playing that more aggressive brand of cricket,” Gilchrist was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia.

“That’s been our Achilles heel for a number of years (and) will be challenging again, with the make-up of the England bowling line-up and how everyone in world cricket is probably aware of that handbrake for Australia there. It’s all on the Aussies to work out what the psychology will be, what the match plan will be and what the make-up of the batting order will be.”

Meanwhile, in the first ODI, England captain Eoin Morgan opted to bowl. Australia started on a poor note as they lost opener David Warner early to Jofra Archer in the fourth over of the match.

Australia are without the services of Steve Smith in the current game and as a result Marcus Stoinis has stepped into bat at No.3.