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London’s fickle weather and Australia’s squad mentality look set to play in Mitchell Starc’s favour as he tries to regain his place for the second Ashes Test.
England are facing several selection dramas as they try to draw level in the series after just their third loss in 14 starts under the Brendon McCullum/Ben Stokes era.
Australia are back preparing for the clash at Lord’s, which gets underway on Wednesday, after the players were given a three-day break following the rousing two-wicket win at Edgbaston.
Their only selection dilemma is whether to bring Starc into the bowling attack for Scott Boland or Josh Hazlewood as they try to establish a 2-0 lead in the face of England’s Bazball onslaught.
Boland was targeted by the English batters in Birmingham, going at 5.65 an over in taking a wicket in each innings, while Hazlewood looked a little short of a gallop after his lengthy layoff but took 2-61 in the first dig and 1-48 in the second.
Mitchell Starc celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Counting against Starc is that he can also be expensive – he took 2-71 and 2-77 from 14 overs in each of the innings against India in the World Test Championship final win, conceding just under 5.5 an over.
Pat Cummins has indicated they will be going with a squad mentality with their quicks so Starc and Hazlewood, who have played just one Test each on tour to Boland’s two, could be the captain’s fast bowling comrades at Lord’s if they follow that plan.
Cloudy conditions are forecast for later in the week at London, which should mean there’ll be some swing in the air to go with the famous Lord’s slope even if the curators prepare another flat deck.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald said after the first Test that Starc’s omission at Edgbaston was due to “the line and length potentially over left-arm swing and we didn’t feel as though we may have got swinging conditions”.
The only other potential issue for Australia revolves around the ongoing struggles of opener David Warner, who scored 9 and 36 in to start the Ashes after making 43 and 1 in the World Test Championship final against India at The Oval.
But the selectors have shown over the course of the past two years during his protracted form slump that they are unwilling to send a modern-day legend into early retirement.
The 36-year-old left-hander will get one more Test, at least, to turn around the mounting volume of evidence that shows he is no longer worthy of his spot at the top of the order.
Australia’s batting coach Michael Di Venuto was confident Warner could break through for a big score at Lord’s.
“He is a little bit back more into the Davey we know. Moving into the ball, lots of energy at the crease, looking to attack,” he told reporters in London.
“Some really good signs there for him to potentially have success around the corner.”
In the English camp, their bowling attack is their main concern.
Their fastest bowler, Mark Wood, is odds-on to be recalled while teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed has been drafted into the squad due to the lingering concerns over Moeen Ali’s finger problem.
The Lord’s wicket has not been friendly to spinners in recent years so they could opt to use Joe Root to soak up overs with his offies and not drop Ollie Robinson or James Anderson to accommodate Wood.
Ahmed, who took seven wickets on debut during the tour of Pakistan at the end of last year, has struggled in the division two of county cricket this season with six wickets at an average of 67.66.
Rehan Ahmed. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
England will persist with Jonny Bairstow as their keeper despite his repeated costly fumbles in the first Test.
If his glovework continues to be a problem, Ben Foakes is likely to be recalled later in the series and Bairstow could be promoted up the order, even to opener where he plays for England in the white-ball formats, with Zak Crawley or Ben Duckett making way.
Apart from Crawley’s rapid-fire 61 in the first innings, England’s brittle top order was again a problem with Duckett falling cheaply both times and Ollie Pope unable to convert a pair of promising starts.
Dan Lawrence, who bats in the middle order for Essex and has a modest record of 551 runs at 29 from 11 Tests, is the only other specialist batter in the squad.
England likely XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow, Rehan Ahmed/Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson. Reserves: Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts, Dan Lawrence.
Australia likely XI: Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. Reserves: Scott Boland, Marcus Harris, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw.
with AAP