NEWS
Follow UsOn September 10 (Tuesday), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the playing XI for the first T20I against Australia and the side featured as many as three debutants.
Among the three debutants named was all-rounder Jamie Overton, who is known for his ability to bowl quick. Overton, on September 11 (Wednesday), will be making his T20I debut, but the 30-year-old has already been capped by England in Tests, against New Zealand in Leeds in 2022. There, he famously shared a 241-run seventh wicket stand with Jonny Bairstow.
Overton is a bowling all-rounder by designation, but the 30-year-old will be playing the Australia T20Is as a specialist batter due to a back stress fracture he suffered in April while bowling for Surrey in the County Championship.
The interesting bit here is that, despite the injury, Overton has been playing professional cricket as a specialist batter.
Since July, the right-hander has played five T20 Blast matches for Surrey as a specialist batter, averaging 23.66 while striking at close to 170.00.
He also played The Hundred 2024 entirely as a batter alone for the Manchester Originals. However, he did not find a lot of success there, amassing just 94 runs at an average of 15.66 and strike rate of 107.00. For the Originals, Overton batted predominantly at No.5 and No.6.
He is slated to bat at No.7 for the Three Lions in the first T20I against Australia in Southampton.
While it’s been confirmed that Overton will feature as a specialist batter in the forthcoming T20I series, it remains to be seen when he will return to bowling professionally.
England XI for first T20I vs Australia
Phil Salt (c & wk), Will Jacks, Jordan Cox, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Reece Topley
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