England's Phil Salt says 'no firm conversations have been had' about his T20 World Cup role

England's Phil Salt says "no firm conversations have been had" about his role at the T20 World Cup after former captain Eoin Morgan said he would pick the Lancashire man to open the batting.

Salt and Alex Hales are vying to open with captain Jos Buttler in Australia in the absence of the dropped Jason Roy and the injured Jonny Bairstow.

Salt pressed his claims with a 41-ball 88 not out during the recent 4-3 T20I series win in Pakistan and will hope to push his case further in the three-match series against Australia ahead of the World Cup.

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England play the reigning T20 World Cup champions in Perth on Sunday before further matches in Canberra on October 12 and 14, with a final warm-up against Pakistan to then follow on October 17 before Buttler's men begin their World Cup campaign against Afghanistan on October 22.

Speaking to reporters in Perth, Salt said: "No firm and hard conversations have been had yet [about me opening].

"The obvious thing for me is performance, I don't really need to be told that. I want to put my own stamp on it with the way I play.

"I feel like I'm quite different to a lot of batters that are in this set-up so however you want to put it, I want to take the game on. If you're not a fearless cricketer you don't fit into the England team in my opinion."

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Speaking at Thursday's Professional Cricketers' Association Awards in London, Morgan said: "There are loads of options to open, you can add Ben Stokes to that list.

"But the most like-for-like replacement to Roy, who I liked at the top of the order because he didn't hang around and didn't waste balls, is Salt, so I would probably lean towards him."

Buttler to return from calf injury

England will be bolstered for the Australia series by the returns of Stokes and Buttler.

Stokes was rested for the Pakistan tour while Buttler is expected to make his first appearance since recovering from a calf injury sustained playing in The Hundred in mid-August.

Chris Jordan (finger) and Liam Livingstone (ankle) are also back in the squad.

Australia - who beat New Zealand in the 2021 T20 World Cup final to win the tournament for the first time - come into the series fresh from a 2-0 sweep of West Indies.

Salt said: "First and foremost there is a series to win.

"Obviously everybody has got an eye on the World Cup but it is important to keep the momentum going. We gave ourselves a good start in Pakistan but it's very important we keep that going.

"We had a debrief and went over how well we did to beat Pakistan in their own conditions. That is very tough to do, especially with some players who have not played a lot of international cricket.

"Australia are a strong side, we know that. They won the last World Cup and we know how dangerous they are on their day."

England and Australia will meet again in the Super 12 stage at the T20 World Cup, with their Group 1 encounter to take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, October 28.

Morgan said: "The hammer blow India were dealt with Jasprit Bumrah being injured has probably nudged Australia as favourites and made India second favourites alongside England.

"Like a lot of World Cups, it is going to be about how the best sides adapt, how quickly they adapt."

Follow England's three-match T20I series in Australia across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Then catch every game from the T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from Sunday, October 16.