"Roy has given England what they were lacking against Sri Lanka and Australia - swagger, flair and a potent start"
Thursday 11 July 2019 09:20, UK
England are playing injury-hit Australia at a good time, says Nasser Hussain, but write off the defending champions at your peril...
England have played two virtual knockout games coming into this semi-final and when you are in that high-pressure environment, someone like Jason Roy can be crucial.
You can talk all you want about team meetings. England say they had a big one after the defeat to Sri Lanka and they are nice, they kill half an hour of an evening, but what matters more is what happens in the game.
If Roy and Jonny Bairstow get you to 80-0 in 10 overs then that's what eases the nerves, that's what takes the pressure off, much more than any team meeting.
Roy has given England what they were lacking against Sri Lanka and Australia - swagger, flair and a potent start. Traits that he has always brought to this England side.
Bairstow seems to enjoy having Jason at the other end, it brings the best out of him and, along with Aaron Finch and David Warner and maybe now Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, they are one of the exceptional combinations we are seeing at this World Cup.
Both Bairstow and Roy are slightly susceptible to the ball coming back in - we saw that against India at Edgbaston when Bairstow nearly chopped Mohammed Shami on to his stumps on a couple of occasions.
That's why I think England will possibly be happy playing Australia in Birmingham rather than in the final at Lord's.
We saw at Lord's in England's group-stage defeat to Australia, that Joe Root and James Vince came unstuck against the ball coming in.
Edgbaston is not as much of a swing ground but it can swing and if those two left-armers, Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff, knock over a couple of early wickets, England will need a Plan B.
England against the left-armers will be a vital battle.
At this stage of a World Cup, however good you are, there could be someone in the opposition that produces a bit of magic, so England will need to react accordingly if one or both of Roy and Bairstow don't come off.
I wouldn't have worries if England batted second, though.
This tournament has gone towards teams batting first and then it becoming harder for the side batting second on slow pitches. And whoever wins the toss, I expect to bat first.
It may be an advantage but I don't think it will be a game-changer. England have shown that they can chase over the years with that serious line-up.
Eoin Morgan knows he is going to get bounced by Australia - he fell to the short ball at Lord's and against India in the following game, so Starc and Pat Cummins will target that again.
But this could be the game for Jos Buttler.
The century he scored last summer at Old Trafford as England whitewashed Australia in the bilateral series was remarkable so you are looking at him to deliver again at such a crunch time.
I can't see England changing with their team, unless the pitch looks set to spin a lot, which it can do at Edgbaston. If that is the case, then pick Moeen Ali. The problem is not bringing Ali back in, but who you leave out, as no one deserves to be dropped.
I do think this is a good time to play Australia in that no one wants to go into the semi-final with a couple of injuries hanging over them and Usman Khawaja will be a loss. You want continuity.
Suddenly you might be playing someone who hasn't played in the World Cup or really been around it, in Peter Handscomb.
Handscomb was in great nick earlier this year and probably very unlucky to miss out on a place in the initial squad, but while he is pretty good against spin, to be drafted in for a semi-final is not going to be easy.
Warner is in great form, though - Warner the batsman is phenomenal, his runs, his hundreds.
You only have to look at the way he played against South Africa on Saturday to see that he is a real streetfighter, who wants to win every game everywhere he plays.
At times that gets Warner the bloke into trouble, as has been well-documented, but he has a burning desire to win for himself and his country.
There will be a more raucous atmosphere at Edgbaston than there was at Lord's, so he and Steve Smith will know the boos will come again even louder but I think it fires them up, to be honest.
Australia are obviously a better side with Warner and Smith around but I think captain Finch is a key reason for their resurgence.
The way he plays, leads, his demeanour - he is a very likeable lad who gets the balance between changing the culture and winning games of cricket. He plays very tough but very fair. I couldn't think of a better captain for Australia right now than Finch.
The change in bowling personnel has also helped Australia - they have improved since Behrendorff and Nathan Lyon came into the side. That massive drop-off after Starc and Cummins is not there anymore.
Someone Australia will want more from is Glenn Maxwell. You look at how players of a similar ilk - Jos Buttler, Hardik Pandya - have taken their game on. I see Maxwell in that category and he should be better than bowling a few overs, being brilliant in the field and playing cameos with the bat.
He has one of the highest strike rates in the tournament, over 163, but that has come through flashy twenties and thirties. This is an opportunity for him to get a flashy hundred. That should be his aim.
Finally, I saw Nathan Lyon's comments about the World Cup being England's to lose, but I'm not sure he is stirring the pot - it's easy to see why he has said it. England and India are the top two sides in the world and I always felt they would get to the final.
But if the ball swings at Lord's and when you have one of the great white-ball bowlers in your attack in Starc; Smith, Finch and Warner in your top order; and Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting sat on the balcony, you do not write Australia off. They are a serious World Cup side.
Watch Australia vs England live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup (channel 404) and Sky Sports Main Event (channel 401) from 9.30am on Thursday.
