Australia’s concern is Namibia, not England – head coach Andrew McDonald

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald insists he is not plotting any further role in England’s downfall at the T20 World Cup.

Should England defeat both Namibia and Oman, their hopes of reaching the last eight could hinge on the outcome of the final Group B game between their Ashes rivals and neighbours Scotland.

With net run-rate set to be the deciding factor there is even a scenario where both sides could know the exact equation needed for each to go through at England’s expense.

But, asked if twisting the knife on the old enemy was a factor for his squad having already hammered them by 36 runs in Barbados, McDonald brushed away the suggestion. Instead, he is focused on getting a win of their own against Namibia on Tuesday.

“We’re not really focused on England and where they’re at. We played them, we’ve moved past them and we’ll do what’s important to us,” he said.

“We haven’t got the option of talking about that at the moment. Namibia, first and foremost. England have clearly got their own work to do in the next couple of games. It’s always difficult, you’re always dependent on other results and, yeah, it’s not a nice situation to be in but as I said that’s for them to work through, not us. We’ve got Namibia in front of us and that’s our focus, not England.”

Despite his views on the matter, McDonald has admitted he is open to rotating his XI against Scotland should they beat the southern Africans first – a prospect that could ring alarm bells with Jos Buttler and company.

“We need a win to guarantee ourselves a way through. After that, once we’ve firmed up that qualification, then we can start to look at that potential if we feel like it’s necessary,” he said.