England vs Australia 2nd Test: England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and put Australia into bat in the second Ashes Test under grey skies at Lord’s on Wednesday.
“The overheads have played a massive part in this,” Stokes said. “The wicket looks like it’s got plenty of grass on it so hopefully we can exploit that this morning.”
England brought in fast bowler Josh Tongue for off-spinner Moeen Ali and Australia recalled pace bowler Mitchell Starc in place of Scott Boland.
Ali injured his spinning finger in his comeback Test at Edgbaston but he trained fully this week. England will rely on the part-time off-breaks of Joe Root, who has 18 wickets from 29 tests at an average of 55.44. Stokes said he will also bowl more after committing to 14 overs for two wickets in the first Test.
“We felt having the four seamers, we wanted a point of difference and Tonguey gives us that,” Stokes said. “Joe bowled well last week when he got responsibility with the ball. He’s really enjoyed the challenge of coming on and changing the game with the ball.”
“We just wanted some variety,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said on their solitary team change. “We’re really happy with how Scott has been going. Unfortunately he is the one to miss out this week but we’re excited to have someone of Starcy’s class come back in.”
Australia lead the five-match series 1-0 following their two-wicket victory in the first Test at Edgbaston.
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, Josh Tongue, James Anderson.
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
(with inputs from agencies)
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