Rules allow players who test Covid positive to feature in games; David Warner or Glenn Maxwell could keep wicket against England if Wade does not play; match at MCG a virtual eliminator (watch live on Sky Sports Cricket on Friday, build-up from 8.30am, 9am start)
Thursday 27 October 2022 09:14, UK
Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the crunch T20 World Cup clash with England on Friday but is still expected to play at the MCG.
Rules allow players who test positive to feature in games, although International Cricket Council conditions state the Biosafety Advisory Group "will be the final arbiter as to the Covid status of any player and his consequential availability to participate in a match".
Wade, whose conditions are thought to be mild, will travel to the fixture and train away from his team-mates after becoming the second player in the camp, following Adam Zampa, to test positive this week - leg-spinner Zampa sat out Australia's seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Should Wade not play against England, David Warner or Glenn Maxwell could keep wicket, with no other recognised gloveman in the squad since Josh Inglis was ruled out following a hand injury sustained playing golf and replaced by all-rounder Cameron Green.
Captain Aaron Finch is another option, having kept wicket in the Big Bash League.
Zampa, meanwhile, is set to return against England, with Finch saying at his pre-match press conference: "I've heard Zamps is feeling a lot better. He's been up and about.
"He was just flat the day before the [Sri Lanka] game. He thought it would take too much out of him.
"Going into a World Cup game, you want to be at 100 per cent. But I expect that he'll be available (to play against England)."
Australia and England's meeting in Melbourne on Friday (9am UK time, with build-up from 8.30am on Sky Sports Cricket) is a virtual eliminator.
Both sides have lost one of their two matches so far in Super 12 Group 1 and another defeat could prove terminal.
England followed a five-wicket win over Afghanistan in their opening match in Perth on Saturday with a lacklustre five-run DLS loss to Ireland at the MCG on Wednesday.
Australia, meanwhile, bounced back from an 89-run thrashing to New Zealand in Sydney at the weekend with that success over Sri Lanka in Perth, as Marcus Stoinis smashed an 18-ball fifty - the fastest by an Australian in T20Is - to take his side to a target of 158 with 21 balls to spare.
We didn’t start this World Cup campaign the way we wanted, being in our home country. It is nice to be on the board now and it will be a big game against England.
Finch could not match Stoinis' impact with the bat, labouring to 31 not out from 42 deliveries, but he says that scratchy innings was an "anomaly" and that he remains "100 per cent confident in his game".
The 35-year-old's strike-rate in T20 internationals in 2022 is 117.23, well down on his career record of 142.51.
Finch said: "It is lucky I pick the team, isn't it? Everyone's got their opinion. That's fine. I've got no issues with what people's personal opinions are. I don't read or listen to any of it.
"I felt really relaxed the other day. It was an anomaly in my career, just one of those days. I don't feel any more pressure than I ever have. The only pressure is the expectation you put on yourself.
"You want to produce every game. That's the thing, all the teams that are here, everyone tries as hard as they can to perform on the day. And I still feel confident in my game, 100 per cent."
Watch England vs Australia live on Sky Sports Cricket on Friday. Build-up begins at 8.30am ahead of a 9am start at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
