Australia v Scotland result could see England eliminated, How England can qualify, Josh Hazlewood, fixtures, standings, videos, highlights

Josh Hazlewood has admitted it is in Australia’s “best interests” to manipulate the result of this weekend’s T20 World Cup match against Scotland to eliminate England from the tournament.

England, who lost by 36 runs to Australia last week, need to beat Oman and Namibia and finish the group stage with a better net points percentage than Scotland to reach the Super Eight and avoid elimination.

The reigning champions are therefore relying on their two biggest rivals, Australia and Scotland, for a chance of defending their title in 2022.

Australia took advantage of a flaw in the T20 World Cup’s points system, narrowly beating Scotland and giving their opponents a better net points percentage than England.

Each country’s net points percentage does not carry over into the Super Eight stage of the tournament, so there is no incentive for Australia to go for a big win against Scotland.

“If you go in unbeaten and have a good net run rate, it doesn’t mean much,” Hazlewood told reporters at the post-match press conference in Antigua on Wednesday.

“It’s a strange one.”

England’s final group game against Namibia finishes around four hours before Australia takes on Scotland, meaning Mitchell Marsh’s team will have time to calculate the exact margin of victory they need to eliminate the hosts.

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Hazlewood acknowledged that Australia’s chances of winning the T20 World Cup would improve if England were to exit in the group stage.

“We may face England again at some point in this competition and they are probably one of the top few teams on a good day,” Hazlewood continued.

“We really struggled against them in T20 cricket so if we can knock them out of the tournament it will be good not just for us but probably for everybody else too.”

“It’s going to be exciting to watch. I don’t think we’ve ever been in this situation as a team before.”

“Whether we have a discussion or whether we try to play again like we did tonight is up to the people, not me.”

Meanwhile, England and Pakistan will also be praying for the rain to stop so they can continue their T20 World Cup campaign.

Both nations were finalists in the last tournament but got off to a slow start, with Pakistan suffering a shock defeat to the United States in Dallas.

England and Pakistan need to win all their remaining group stage matches to qualify for the Super Eight, but the forecast in Florida and Antigua looks promising, with a rain-out threat that could see both teams drop out of the tournament.

As expected, Hazlewood’s comments were well received in the UK.

Cricinfo’s Andrew McGlashan suggested that Australia captain Mitchell Marsh could be suspended if Australia manipulated the result of the match.

“He may be charged under Article 2.11 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct, which is in place to prevent the manipulation of matches for ‘improper strategic or tactical reasons,’ such as a team deliberately losing pool matches in an ICC event to affect the ranking of other teams in that ICC event,” McGlashan wrote.

“The code of conduct makes it clear that this provision may also apply to ‘improper manipulation of net run rate’, making the master liable and liable for prosecution for a Level 2 offence.”

“Depending on the seriousness of the breach, a minimum fine of 50 per cent of match fee and a maximum of four demerit points and two suspensions could be imposed, which would mean Marsh missing Australia’s first two Super Eight matches.”

The same rules were detailed in an article on the Wisden website that began, “Sorry, Australia…”

England’s Australian coach, Matthew Mott, said he hoped Hazlewood’s comments were a joke.

“Having grown up in Australia and having that will to win every game I’m sure they’ll come to the fore,” Mott, an Australian, told BBC Sport. “I really hope it’s just a casual remark made by a really good person having fun.”

Meanwhile, Laurence Booth of the Daily Mail called the situation a “disgrace” and said it only exposed problems with the tournament schedule.

“This is probably more an issue of ethics than corruption, but a serious one nonetheless. By drawing attention to a set of circumstances that Australians would have been better off not dealing with, Mr Hazlewood has simply revealed the amateurishness of scheduling,” he wrote.

“Was he joking when he described a scenario that could bring the game into disrepute? If so, he hid it well.

“If Australia slow down their pace to meet their target on Saturday or bring on part-time bowlers if Scotland struggle to catch up in their own half, ICC match umpire Geoff Crowe will have to make some big decisions.”

Group A

India, United States, Pakistan, Canada, Ireland

The winner of the match between India and the United States on Thursday morning will automatically qualify for the Super Eight, but an intriguing battle is unfolding for the other spot.

Any country in Group A can still mathematically qualify, with hosts USA needing to win one of their remaining matches against India or Canada.

For Pakistan, however, the situation is a bit more complicated. Babar Azam’s men will need to beat Ireland and achieve a better net points ratio than the United States, but even then they will be dependent on other match results and the weather.

Meanwhile, Canada and Ireland would need a miracle to finish in the top two.

Ladder

1. India — 4 points (+1.455)

2. United States — 4 points (+0.626)

3. Pakistan — 2 points (+0.191)

4. Canada — 2 points (-0.493)

5. Ireland — 0 points (-1.712)

Remaining matches