Pitch and weather: There was a significant green tinge on the surface ahead of the game, but that is pretty normal for Lord’s. There is the expectation of more pace and bounce than Edgbaston provided. The forecast is fine for the opening day but there is a chance of some interruptions after that.
England vs Australia Highlights today. Wednesday 28-6-2023, The Ashes 2023 2nd Test, Lord’s, London.
Ben Stokes: “I think the overheads have played a massive part in this. The wicket looks like it’s got plenty of grass on it so hopefully we can exploit that this morning. We felt have the four seamers, we wanted a point of difference and Tonguey gives us that. I think Joe bowled well last week when he got responsibility with the ball. I think he’s really enjoyed the challenge of coming on and changing the game with the ball.”
Pat Cummins: “We would have had a bowl as well. We just wanted some variety. 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.”
Toss: England chose to field.
England team: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Ollie Robinson, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 James Anderson
Australia team: 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Head to Head In test’s: 357
England Won: 110
Australia Won: 151
England test Rankings: 3rd
Australia test Rankings: 2nd
Form guide
(Last five matches, most recent first)
England LWLWW
Australia WWDWL
Match Timings: 10:00 AM GMT | 11:00 AM Local
Umpires – Ahsan Raza, Chris Gaffaney
TV Umpire – Marais Erasmus
Match Referee – Andy Pycroft
Reserve Umpire – David Millns
Match number – Test no. 2508
