Against Australia, Jamie Smith will bat at No. 3

For the first time in his ODI career, Jamie Smith will bat at No. 3 and keep wickets for England in their Champions Trophy opener against Australia on Saturday in Lahore. For the better part of a decade, Joe Root has been England's No. 3 pick. However, he dropped to No. 4 in the final ODI of their recent series in India, where they lost 3-0, and he will continue to play that position against Australia. Smith has only batted at No. 5 or 6 in his seven-match ODI career to date, but will be thrown into a new role in his first match at an ICC event. England struggled to balance their side after Jacob Bethell's injury in India, looking one batter light in the second ODI and short on bowling in the third. They have retained their batting-heavy balance for the start of the Champions Trophy, with Liam Livingstone carded at No. 7, which means that Livingstone and Root will have to share 10 overs between them. Root has batted at No. 4 in 56 of his 163 ODIs innings, but the vast majority were in the early years of his international career. England's engine room of Root, Harry Brook, and Jos Buttler will bat from No. 4-6 rather than No. 3-5 as a result of the decision to bat Smith at No. 3, strengthening their middle order after a series of defeats in India. Smith only played two of England's eight games on their white-ball tour to India after sustaining a calf injury which ruled him out of the end of the T20I series and all three ODIs. But he has been declared fit to face Australia, and will take the gloves ahead of Phil Salt - who will open with Ben Duckett - and Buttler. After missing the second and third India One-Day Internationals due to a toe injury, Brydon Carse has been selected ahead of Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, and Saqib Mahmood. He will bat at No. 8 and is England's third seamer, with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood set to share the new ball. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh (all injured), Marcus Stoinis (retired from ODIs), and Mitchell Starc (personal reasons) have all withdrew late from Australia's Champions Trophy squad. Australia won the series 3-2 when the two teams last met in this format at the end of the English summer of 2024.