Buttler not taking depleted Aus lightly

LAHORE:

England skipper Jos Buttler expects Australia to pose a tough challenge when they meet in a Champions Trophy Group B clash in Lahore on Saturday, despite missing their pace trio.

Australia's campaign in the eight-nation Champions Trophy was hit hard after their regular skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were ruled out due to ankle and hip injuries.

To add to their woes, spearhead Mitchell Starc withdrew from the event on personal reasons while Mitchell Marsh, suffering a back injury, and Marcus Stoinis shockingly retired from one-day internationals.

Experienced batter Steve Smith will take over as captain with an inexperienced pace attack, but Buttler did not underestimate the traditional rivals.

"They have been a real pillar of success for Australia for a long period of time, so naturally there'll be a miss for their team," Buttler told a news conference on Friday.

"But they've got some top players to step into those shoes as well and Australia always over time have performed very well in ICC tournaments.

"We expect a really tough challenge."

"England and Australia, there's always a great rivalry and a competitive match. And obviously, in the Champions Trophy format, each game is really a massive game," Buttler told reporters. "So, we look forward to it."

Buttler said fast bowler Jofra Archer is fit and raring to go. "He's been fit and firing now for... 18 months or so since being out of the game for a while. So, he's really excited to put together a performance," he said of the 29-year-old pacer.

Archer featured in all five Twenty20 internationals against India but missed the last two ODIs on the tour that preceded the Champions Trophy.

"He (Archer) is someone as a captain you always know you can turn to and throw the ball to," Buttler added. "He's obviously going to be really looking forward to the game tomorrow."

England had announced their final eleven for the match on Thursday evening, recalling wicketkeeper batter Jamie Smith who will bat at three -- a decision Buttler backed.

"He's obviously got the game technically and tactically, but I think the head on his shoulders seems to be one of the biggest strengths," he said.

"Nothing seems to faze him too much. I think you could ask him to bat anywhere in the line-up and it wouldn't phase him. We feel it gives him a nice position to try and really impact the game."

Buttler hoped conditions in Pakistan will be different from India where they lost T20I series 4-1 and one-day internationals 3-0.

"I think everywhere you go around the world, everywhere has its own nuances and different conditions. We've got lots of guys who've played in Pakistan before, so sharing those experiences," he said.

Australia, on the other hand, have enough experience and versatility in their lineup to get into tournament-mode quickly despited the absee of key players and a difficult buildup to the one-day international showpiece, according to opener Travis Head.

The world champions are without regular skipper Pat Cummins and spearhead pacers Mitchelle Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Australia's bowling will rest largely on the shoulders of fringe pacemen and there is pressure on the inexperienced top order batting duo of Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk after each had twin failures in Sri Lanka.

Despite all that, Head has backed the Steve Smith-captained squad to click when it counts on the field. "There's a few guys ... who haven't played a lot of white ball cricket but those guys are pretty versatile," he said.

"I feel like we'll be in a good position, we're experienced enough in that batting unit that the guys who have been playing red ball cricket can transition pretty well.