Scotland opener Michael Jones has said that his team wouldn't mind if Australia were to do them a favour in order to knock England out of the T20 World Cup.
Josh Hazlewood stirred up a storm when he said after the Australia-Namibia game that they might consider limitting their victory margin against Scotland as that would facilitate knocking England out of the Super Eights race.
Scotland currently have five points from three games and a significantly superior net run rate than England, who only have one point from two matches. A narrow loss for Scotland against Australia will dent England's chances of qualifying for the Super Eights, even if they were to win their last two matches by big margins.
Speaking after Australia's massive victory against Namibia, which put them through to the next round, Hazlewood said, "if we can get them out of the tournament that's in our best interest as well as probably everyone else."
Josh Hazlewood has acknowledged that Australia will strategize to mathematically knock England out of the Super Eights contention.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) June 12, 2024
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Jones: Scotland wouldn't mind an Australia favour
“I was watching it live actually, laughing to myself,” Michael Jones, the Scotland opener who scored 45 off 30 in the washed out encounter against England earlier in the World Cup, said in reference to Hazlewood's press conference.
“I watched that interview and I watched (former Australia captain) Tim Paine when he was saying they should field half a side. I’m not particularly close to them, I don’t know any of the Australian players, but it would be good if we could have a little word and sort something out.
Also read: Are Australia allowed to manipulate net run rate to knock England out?