Champions Trophy 2025: Jamie Smith is named as England’s wicketkeeper in the team’s announcement against Australia

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has revealed the starting lineup for their Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Australia. Notably, the game is scheduled on Saturday, February 22, at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Along with taking charge of the gloves, Jamie Smith received a huge boost when he was selected to bat at No. 3. In his seven-match ODI career, the 24-year-old will bat at the top order for the first time in the eagerly awaited contest against the Men in Yellow. In the recently finished eight-ball white-ball series against India, Smith missed the first two Twenty20 Internationals due to a left leg injury.

It will be expected of the opening pair of Phil Salt and Ben Duckett to get England off to a fast start in the powerplay, as they did admirably in the three-match ODI series. Players like Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, and Liam Livingstone have moved down the order as a result of Smith’s elevation.

The most recent post from England Cricket can be found here:

We’ve named our XI for the first game against Australia 👇

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 20, 2025

Returning to join England’s fast trio is Brydon Carse.

After suffering a toe injury, Brydon Carse was cleared to play as an extra lift. The last two ODIs against India were missed by the fast-bowling all-rounder. He will join Mark Wood and Jofra Archer in the pace-bowling unit.

In addition to Livingstone and Root’s part-time spin, Adil Rashid, the frontline spinner, will be required to carry the load. When looking at the entire limited-overs series against India, Rashid was maybe the most impressive bowler.

England’s starting lineup versus Australia:

Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Jamie Smith (wk), Ben Duckett, Phil Salt, Joe Root, Harry Brook, and Jos Buttler (c).