The last of England’s touring party set off for the Ashes on Monday morning on an uncomfortable flight with the Australia team, who had spent the night toasting their maiden T20 World Cup title in Dubai.
Australia thrashed New Zealand by eight wickets, thanks to the bowling of Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa, and the batting of Mitch Marsh and player of the tournament David Warner.
Now they are heading home on a charter flight to Brisbane alongside the England players and staff involved in both the T20 and Ashes, such as Jos Buttler and Mark Wood.
They had been waiting in Dubai for Australia’s campaign to conclude.
Australia turned their tournament around after being demolished by England in the group stage, and Hazlewood believes their success was down to a “player-led” environment in which head coach Justin Langer, who has been accused of being too overbearing, took a back seat.
Warner’s form was vital, and Aussie captain Aaron Finch says he even predicted his teammate would shine following a dismal IPL campaign in which he was dropped by Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“I called Justin Langer a few months ago and said, ‘Don’t worry about Davey, he’ll be man of the tournament’,” Finch said. “He’s one of the all-time great batters, a fighter.”
