Australia hosts Zimbabwe in early start to cricket season

Australia has an early start to its summer season of cricket when Zimbabwe makes its first appearance for a one-day international series in the country since 2004.

The teams will play three ODIs in seven days beginning Sunday, with the remaining two matches in the series set for Wednesday and next Saturday in the tropical north Queensland city of Townsville.

The venue for the day matches will be 10,000-seat Riverway Stadium.

Australia allrounder Marnus Labuschagne is expecting spin to play a big role in the matches. He’s played three times at the stadium and the right-handed scored 337 runs at an average of 84.25 in his five innings.

“The ground’s great. I don’t think I’ve lost here yet, I’ve got three wins from three games,” Labuschagne told the Cricket Australia website at the launch of the series. “We (Queensland state ) played here last year and the track was quite good. It did a little bit early but it was actually really good for the spinners.”

Labuschagne, who is known to shift between medium pace and leg-spin when given the opportunity to bowl, said there was a clear winner if given the nod by captain Aaron Finch.

“Definitely spin,” he said.

Australia has two spinners in its squad, with Ashton Agar returning from a side injury he sustained in Sri Lanka and Adam Zampa returning to the squad following the birth of his first child, Eugene.

Zimbabwe, which last played an ODI in Australia as part of a tri-series with India more than 18 years ago, also has a number of options with spin, with allrounders Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Tony Munyonga and Ryan Burl likely to supplement the efforts of the front-line fast bowlers.

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Squads:

Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Zimbabwe: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (captain), Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.