England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to field first against Australia in the second match of the Ashes series 2023 at Lord’s in London on Wednesday.
Australia will look to make their lead 2-0 while England will try to equalize the scorecard. Australia’s off-spinner Nathan Lyon will play his 100th consecutive match in Lord’s. He will achieve the unique milestone of becoming the only spinner to do so in cricket history.
England skipper Stokes said at the toss, “We are gonna have a bowl. Overhead conditions played a massive part and the surface looks good to have a bowl as well. Disappointed not having Woody, but Tongue is a like-for-like replacement. Joe is really enjoying the challenge (with the ball) and is turning into a genuine all-rounder. You can name a numerous amount of things in the last Test, but we could have been a lot more tidier in some of the moments.”
Australia’s captain Pat Cummins said, “We were gonna have a bowl as well. One change. Starc in for Boland. Boland has been good for us, unfortunately he is going to miss out this week. We are selective with our history. It is a fresh start, new team really looking forward to playing here. Every Ashes here at Lord’s is special. Not only in terms of fitness (speaking about Lyon), but getting picked in all conditions and playing 100 Tests on the trot is a phenomenal achievement.”
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, James Anderson
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. (ANI)
