‘Confident they will play the Australian way’ – Mark Wood reacts to Josh Hazlewood’s ‘knockout’ remark

Australia Team. (Photo Source: ICC)

Josh Hazlewood’s comments on the Scotland match have created a lot of controversy. The ace pacer talked about surrendering to Scotland to eliminate England from the T20 World Cup. Things went quite far and it emerged that such a deliberate manipulation will lead to Australia captain Mitchell Marsh’s suspension for the next two games. Pat Cummins later clarified that Hazlewood was only teasing and Australia will only play to win and top the group.

England pacer Mark Wood is also not worried about Hazlewood’s comments, expressing confidence that Australia will play hard against Scotland. The 34-year-old mentioned that he sees the positive side and expects the arch-rivals to be fair in their approach.

Also Read – Jos Buttler reacts to Josh Hazlewood’s ‘knockout’ remark

“I think that’s part of being England and Australia, isn’t it? I think actually I saw it more as a respect thing, if I’m honest, that he was saying that England have done well against Australia in the recent past and thinks we’re a big threat and a big team so I have no problem with it,” Wood said at the pre-match press conference.

“I’m absolutely confident they’ll play the game the hardest, that’s the Australian way, that they’ll play hard but fair and try and get the win,” he further added.

England will play Namibia in their final league game of the campaign. To qualify for the next round, the Three Lions need win and also hope for Australia’s victory over Scotland. 

Also Read – Scotland’s Michael Jones reacts to Josh Hazlewood’s controversial statement

Speaking of England, the Jos Buttler-led side thrashed Oman by eight wickets in their last match and will be carrying a lot of confidence against Namibia in Antigua. However, their result would mean nothing if Scotland upset Australia. The Ritchie Berrington-led side is still undefeated and would be hoping to draw favourable results and qualify for the Super 8. However, it won’t be an easy task at all.