Former Australia Test captain Tim Paine strongly feels that Australia should seriously play well to hamper England’s chances of progressing into the Super 8 stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Australia have already sealed their progress after registering three wins on the trot. Scotland are currently placed on five points while England have one point only, with two matches against Oman and Namibia coming up.

Meanwhile, Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood shared that eliminating England will be a help to all, but the ICC Code of Conduct prevents any team from manipulating the result of any contest as well.

“Absolutely they should and I’m not even joking. I’m dead serious. You don’t have to lose the game, just let Scotland get close enough. And that’s not just because it’s England. I think you’ve got to go into these tournaments, trying to win a World Cup, and who could certainly pose a threat in the latter rounds? England,” Pain said in SEN Radio.

“There’s no doubt they are still one of the best teams in the world. They’ve got off to a horrible start and now it’s in our hands. So if you can knock out one of the most highly fancied teams in the tournament and do it in a way that’s not too bad, or you’re not going to be losing a game, then I’m all for it,” Paine further added.

However, Australia’s clash against Scotland is scheduled in St.Lucia on Saturday, June 15 as well. Australia can at least explore the possibility of resting some of their key players for the match as well.

“In this tournament you potentially come up against England at some stage again. They’re probably one of the top few teams on their day and we’ve had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament that’s in our best interest as well as probably everyone else,” Hazlewood said after Australia’s win over Namibia as well.