An old rivalry has been reignited but the Aussies are in better shape ahead of Saturday's showdown... with England running out of time to find their World Cup mojo, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH

Cuzz’s Fish Stand in Carlisle Bay was doing a roaring trade on Wednesday, as punters queued in the 30-degree heat for an early lunch.

Among them were several Australian cricketers: David Warner, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Ashton Agar and Tim David all stood patiently in line, mixing easily with locals and tourists. A passer-by might have imagined they were here on holiday. But they are here to win a World Cup - as England may discover today at Kensington Oval.

Devouring Cuzz’s delicious fish cutters is not exactly a guarantee of silverware, but the scene summed up the relaxed mood as Australia aim for a full house of ICC trophies by adding the T20 title to the Test and one-day titles they won last year.

‘They’re the best fish cutters on the island,’ said Australia’s captain, Mitchell Marsh, getting to the heart of the matter. ‘I’ve had about 20.’

The contrast with England’s rainy, tetchy start to their World Cup defence could hardly be greater. On Monday, Jos Buttler reacted to gentle probing from the media as if he had been asked to solve Gaza. On Tuesday, his bowlers were assaulted by Scotland’s openers, before the weather prevented further embarrassment.

Australia, meanwhile, began by despatching Oman, their only setback a fifth duck in 10 T20 innings for Glenn Maxwell. They even rested Pat Cummins, who has handed the T20 armband to the chilled and popular Marsh. It was the move of a team confident in their own skin.

For all England’s talk about relocating the freedom they mislaid during the one-day World Cup in India, the Australians are the last side they would choose to face in a game they could do with winning if they are to avoid a qualification battle with Scotland.

England have actually won their two most recent T20 World Cup meetings with Australia, including an eight-wicket thrashing in Dubai in October 2021, and the final itself, here in Barbados, in 2010. But one of those took place 14 years ago - Australian opener David Warner is the only survivor from either side - and the other in a tournament the Aussies went on to win.

Just as instructive, perhaps, is the Australians’ 7-3 advantage in one-day World Cup. And while England threatened to build their own white-ball dynasty, holding both limited-overs trophies until they fell apart in India last autumn, the Australians routinely feel at home on the big stage: since 1987, they have won six 50-over World Cups out of 10.

England’s triumphs have been the exceptions, Australia’s the rule. And each success has permeated deep into the Aussie psyche, consolidating their belief that no team rise more effortlessly to the big occasion.

As fast bowler Josh Hazlewood put it before the World Cup: ‘Knowing Australia have won a lot of titles in the past builds that confidence. We’ve got those in the bag and that gives us a sense of relaxation.’

Ricky Ponting, who captained them to the second and third of their hat-trick of one-day World Cups in 2003 and 2007, arrived differently at the same conclusion: ‘When World Cups come around, it’s normally the Australian team that find a way to play their best cricket.’

Marsh simply sounded like a captain grateful for the quality he has inherited. ‘We try to keep it fairly relaxed and hopefully the boys feel it as well,’ he said.

Even so, this is England v Australia, and memories of last year’s combustible Ashes have been rekindled by the third series of The Test, the Amazon Prime documentary that has allowed fans into the Australian dressing-room.

Jonny Bairstow, whose controversial stumping by Alex Carey turned the second Test at Lord’s into a powder keg, said he had not watched any of it. But that didn’t stop him arguing that his dismissal was the turning point of a series in which England came from two-down to draw 2-2.

‘You look at the results after that thing that happened at Lord’s - we finished that series a lot stronger than Australia,’ he said. ‘The impact it had on us was very positive. You can make your own assumptions about what effect it had on Australia.’

Marsh, too, couldn’t help allude to the Ashes. ‘Barbados will be full of English fans,’ he said. ‘It will be like playing at Headingley all over. We always want to challenge ourselves against the best, and England have been exceptional in this format for a while now.’

You can take England and Australia out of the Ashes, but it takes little scratching at the surface to reveal the rivalry below. Kensington Oval may not be Lord’s or the MCG, and this may be a group game, not the final. But old habits die hard, and England will be desperate to postpone the Australians’ celebratory visit to Cuzz’s.

Possible teams:

England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Adil Rashid.

Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wkt), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.