Australia WON’T manipulate their T20 World Cup game against Scotland to try and eliminate England, Pat Cummins insists… after Josh Hazlewood’s controversial comments

Pat Cummins has insisted Australia will not go against the ‘spirit of cricket’ by rigging their crucial World Cup match against Scotland on Sunday in a bid to knock out England.

His fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood had suggested that it would make sense for the Australians to ‘throw it around and drag it out’ if that would help Scotland finish with a higher net run-rate than England – a move that would go against would be in line with the ICC Code of Conduct. and possibly lead to a ban for their captain, Mitchell Marsh.

England play Namibia in Antigua on Sunday, with victory likely to be enough to qualify for the Super Eights as long as Australia then beat Scotland in St Lucia.

But there is still a slim chance that this scenario could still beat England in terms of net run-rate, even if that scenario is less likely after Thursday’s defeat to Oman. And Cummins, the Australian Test captain, felt the need to intervene after Hazlewood’s rude comments and some equally clumsy attempts in the Australian camp to play them down.

“I discussed the matter with Joshy, who had somewhat joked about it the other day, but I believe his comment was taken out of context,” Cummins said. ‘We’re just concentrating on playing Scotland, who have had an impressive tournament so far and will be a formidable opponent.

Pat Cummins has insisted Australia will not rig their match against Scotland to knock England out of the T20 World Cup

Josh Hazlewood (right) had suggested his side could try to score slowly to ensure England were knocked out

Jos Buttler’s side are confident their rivals can beat Scotland to reach the Super Eights

“Net run-rate is one of the quirky aspects of the tournament that we discuss, but it doesn’t change the way we approach the game. When you step onto the field, you must always give your best. Anything less would be against the spirit of cricket.”

The topic remains a bone of contention between the two Ashes rivals following Alex Carey’s defeat of Jonny Bairstow in the Lord’s Test last summer. Amazon Prime’s third series of The Test, which recently aired, revealed that Cummins had instigated the sacking, urging Carey to “just give it a go” although he insisted he had done nothing to shake the spirit offend the game.

England fast bowler Mark Wood said he had no doubt that Australia – who have already qualified for the next stage of the World Cup – would do their best to beat Scotland.

“I am absolutely sure they will play the game the hardest,” he said. “That’s the Australian approach: they play hard and fair and try to get the win.”