Zampa forecasts further spin on the World Cup menu
5 days ago
Adam Zampa has warned that Australia can expect to be subject to the sort of trial by spin at the World Cup in Sri Lanka that sank them in their opening warmup T20I against Pakistan
The 33yearold spinner was Australias standout performer as they went down by 22 runs in the first of their warmup threematch series in Lahore on Thursday after largely being suffocated by the hosts excellent fourpronged spin assault
Zampa who took 424 to ensure it was a competitive affair accepts it will be a very different Australia side that goes into battle in the opening World Cup fixture against Ireland in Colombo on February 11 bolstered by big guns like Pat Cummins Josh Hazlewood Glenn Maxwell and Tim David
And hes confident their experience of the sort of slow low conditions that a shadow side featuring three T20I debutants found it so difficult to cope with in Lahore will serve Australia well at a World Cup where conditions will differ vastly between the Indian and Sri Lankan venues
Asked if he felt the Lahore loss was an indication of what was to come at the World Cup Zampa said Definitely in Sri Lanka If anything the challenge in Pakistan is the low bounce in Sri Lanka it probably spins and bounces a little bit more
Tonight I think the challenge was definitely slow off the wicket and then the low bounce gets you on the bottom of the bat Its pretty alien for some of the young guys particularly in the group
Obviously weve got a very different squad in this series as to what well have in the World Cup A lot more experience comes back then but exposing those guys in the middle order particularly to conditions like those tonight its going to be good for them the long run
The conditions will change throughout the World Cup The first stage of the tournament particularly in Sri Lanka the spinners will play a huge role but itll change definitely in India where my experience is that its totally different good batting wickets as youve seen in the latest series with New Zealand there
Zampa was impressed by Australias new T20 boys Mahli Beardman Jack Edwards and Matt Renshaw
He bowled superb tonight said Zampa of Beardman the 20yearold Perth Scorchers quick who ended up with his first two international wickets in two balls in his final over to end with 233
Matt Renshaw has dominated domestic T20 cricket and improved his whiteball game in the last two years and looked good before he got run out for 15 tonight Jack looks tidy with the ball hes definitely going to have a future in Aussie colours
Qantas T20I tour of Pakistan 2026
First T20I January 29 Pakistan beat Australia by 22 runs
Second T20I January 31 Gaddafi Stadium Lahore 10pm AEDT 4pm PKT
Third T20I February 1 Gaddafi Stadium Lahore 10pm AEDT 4pm PKT
Australia squad Mitch Marsh c Sean Abbott Xavier Bartlett Mahli Beardman Cooper Connolly Ben Dwarshuis Jack Edwards Cameron Green Travis Head Josh Inglis Matthew Kuhnemann Mitch Owen Josh Philippe Matthew Renshaw Matt Short Marcus Stonis Adam Zampa