After a winter of toil, England are set to lock horns with Australia for the final run of fixtures this week, facing off in three T20 internationals.

With five days remaining on the tour, England will be looking to salvage some pride and test their initial plans ahead of the World T20 in Bangladesh in March.

Captain Stuart Broad has reaffirmed that the tour thus far hasn’t harmed him, but he is confident ahead of the matches, beginning in Hobart.

“You’d expect morale to be pretty low,” he said.

“Coming into training the guys are really confident. There’s a lot of excitement around this group and as we know in T20 cricket, if you have confidence and enjoy your cricket then you play well.

“We’ve got guys here – the likes of Luke Wright, Michael Lumb and Alex Hales – coming into the squad who have played some really good Big Bash cricket, their confidence is high. 

“There’s a real nice buzz around the changing room.”

Given the cloud that has been hanging over the England camp, an influx of fresh faces into the side will be welcome and when discussing English Twenty 20 players, Alex Hales and Michael Lumb are two very welcome additions.

Over the past 18 months, the pair have been imperious at the top of the order for the national side.

Hales scored 99 against Australia in Durham last summer, and shortly after the culmination of the series was placed at number one in the ICC T20 batting rankings.

Lumb, after excelling through 2013 in both international and domestic cricket, has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Big Bash League with the Sydney Sixers, finishing the group stages as his side’s highest scoring batsman.

England will also benefit from fellow Big Bash luminary Luke Wright, whose runs propelled the Melbourne Stars into the tournament’s knockout stages with eight wins from eight.

 

Alex Hales & Michael Lumb - Outlaws on the march.

 

With these three at the top of the order, as well as the likes of Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, the side has the potential to bat deeply.

With regard to England’s bowling threat, Broad has shown good form through the winter and with pace from Chris Jordan and Jade Dernbach, expect the attack to carry threat and power. James Tredwell is likely to be the side’s frontline spinner, with either Ravi Bopara or Joe Root offering a further change in pace.

The hosts will be without three o their most exciting Ashes-winners in Mitchell Johnson, David Warner and Shane Watson, but boast the formidable Aaron Finch, who has scored two centuries in the recent ODI series against England, as well as 230 in his last four fixtures in the Big Bash for the Melbourne Renegades.

The surface in Hobart is handy for batting, and with England boasting a deep and impressive batting lineup, the stage is set for redemption, and an eye on collecting much-needed form for the World T20.