Pitch and weather: Two days out, Pat Cummins thought the surface looked “pretty similar” to the one rolled out for the World Test Championship final against India. “Maybe not quite as firm as the final,” he added. “A little bit of grass. Not heaps. Looks like a pretty good wicket.” Eyes will again be on the weather forecast, although not to the same extent as Old Trafford. There are showers of varying degrees expected on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.
England vs Australia 5th Test Highlights 2023. Thursday 27-7, The Ashes 2023 5th Test Highlights, From Kennington Oval, London.
“bit of cloud overhead, wicket looks like a good wicket. Cummins confirms the return of Murphy for Green. “Nathan Lyon has always bowled well here, and Todd is a class bowler.”
Stokes says he would also have bowled because of the overheads (plus loving to chase). “Australia want to win the Ashes, we want to not allow them to do so. It’s just as important for both teams.”
Toss: Australia chose to field.
England team: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson
Australia team: 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Todd Murphy, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Head to Head In test’s: 360
England Won: 111
Australia Won: 152
England test Rankings: 3rd
Australia test Rankings: 2nd
Form guide
(Last five matches, most recent first)
England DWLLW
Australia DLWWW
Match Timings: 10:00 AM GMT | 11:00 AM Local
Umpires – Joel Wilson, Kumar Dharmasena
TV Umpire – Nitin Menon
Match Referee – Ranjan Madugalle
Reserve Umpire – David Millns
Match number – Test no. 2515
