England thwarted by rain in Australia

JOS Buttler believes England’s destiny is in their own hands at the T20 World Cup, even if there was “sadness” the elements meant a titanic clash against Australia at the MCG was washed out, writes David Charlesworth.

England and Australia had each started their Super 12s campaign with one win and one defeat so whoever lost this latest tussle between the Ashes rivals would have been on the brink of a group stage exit.

However, the players and a crowd of 37,565 were frustrated as the rain that has tumbled in Melbourne for the past couple of days left a saturated outfield which was deemed unfit to play on by the umpires.

While the rain abated just after the scheduled start time of 7pm local (9am UK), a couple of pitch inspections came and went and hands were shaken less than two hours later as both sides took a point.

The group is wide open with four teams on three points and the bottom two on two but England currently have a better net run-rate than Australia, which could be decisive if they win their last two matches.

“Australia v England at the MCG in a must-win World Cup match is as big as it gets in your career and they are the games you want to be involved in,” Buttler said.

“No matter what the result it’s something you want to experience as a cricketer and you don’t know how often those opportunities will come around. So there’s an element of sadness that, win lose or draw, we couldn’t play the match.”

He added to the BBC: “We know we are still in the competition and know, to a certain degree, we have our destiny in our own hands. There is still lots of confidence in the group.”

England next take on New Zealand on Tuesday evening at Brisbane, where the long-range forecast suggests more showers are possible during the day but should have cleared by the time the teams take to the field.