01:58 PM BST
Re Tongue’s action (see 26th over)
No better analyst if this than the Bowlologist:
01:57 PM BST
In fact it’s stopped already
The hover cover is coming off and it will only be moments before they are back.
01:56 PM BST
Rain stops play
The teams jog back to the pavilion for a second rain-break so far. It’s very dark over Lord’s, fag-ash grey clouds envelop the ground but the rain isn’t very heavy at all.
01:55 PM BST
OVER 26: AUS 79/1 (Warner 55 Labuschagne 4)
Labuschagne defends a riser from Tongue on his toes and breaks his Kookaburra bat. On come four more for him to choose from. He bought 20 on tour, says Ricky Ponting but is down to 16 after donating four to his Glamorgan family.
Labuschagne, like Khawaja, leaves on length and, like Khawaja, almost perishes when it keeps lower than he thought and whistles over an about an inch wide of the off bail. They have a leg slip in for a strangle and Labuschagne does play and miss at a flick off his ribs and Tongue beats him with a jaffa that angled in as the bowler’s arm, as it does, goes beyond the perpendicular and then nibbled away, past the No 3’s edge.
A maiden before a squall hits Lord’s and the players race off.
01:49 PM BST
OVER 25: AUS 79/1 (Warner 55 Labuschagne 4)
Anderson draws the edge off Labuschagne who, Like Warner, is batting outside his crease. The soft hands and yet another feather-bed pitch kill the carry and it drops short of second slip. Anderson, straining for swing, overpitches and Labuschagne pushes the half-volley, no more than an elongated defensive, for two then opens the face to sprint a single.
Warner, too, uses the push, rather than the drive to pierce cover for two more.
01:44 PM BST
OVER 24: AUS 74/1 (Warner 53 Labuschagne 1)
Good wheels from Tongue, mid 80s and climbing. Labuschagne leaves a channel ball and then another between a solid defensive. A thick inside edge off another forward defensive allows him to get off the mark to square leg.
Warner throws his hands carelessly at a wider one, looking for an expansive drive but drags it into the grass off the left side of the toe.
01:41 PM BST
Good afternoon
Rob Bagchi here for the next couple of sessions. England were extraordinarily flat in that opening session, lacking spark and confidence. Let’s see if David Saker and Brendon McCullum have put a rocket up them over the past 40 minutes.
Josh Tongue has five balls left.
01:38 PM BST
Lunch verdict
A murky morning at Lord’s and an even gloomier session for England only saved at the very end by Josh Tongue’s wicket. Granted perfect seam bowling conditions and a chance to lift themselves back in the series, England dropped both openers and walked off very disappointed with their return of one for 73; their only success due to batsman error with Khawaja bowled not playing a shot.
He was dropped on one by Joe Root low down at first slip off James Anderson and David Warner was missed on 20 by Ollie Pope at fourth slip. Both would have massively lifted the team and the crowd especially after dropped catches cost England the first Test.
Ollie Robinson was bowling at 78mph, and dismissively swept for four by Warner, Australia noticeably going after him following his comments between Tests. Tongue was expensive but did create half chances with his extra pace hurrying up the batsmen, Khawaja deceived by a ball that nipped back down the slope.
Warner brought up a fifty ten minutes before lunch, having clung on against Broad but played well against the others. The main positive for England was that Jonny Bairstow stopped a protester throwing powder on the pitch and potentially ruining the Test. Shame his slip fielders were not as good at catching.
01:27 PM BST
Thank god for Jonny Bairstow
By Oliver Brown at Lord’s
It was a relief, quite frankly, to see Jonny Bairstow hold on to something. After a first Test in which he was pilloried for his butterfingered bungling with the gloves, England’s embattled wicketkeeper needed just five minutes at Lord’s to provide one of the abiding images of this sporting summer, scooping up a Just Stop Oil protester in those giant arms and carrying him across the entire outfield to deposit him in the stands.
Oliver’s piece in full is here.
01:17 PM BST
No10s response to Just Stop Oil protest
This from the Prime Minister’s official spokesman:
I think these sorts of selfish guerrilla tactics that target events bringing joy to millions are exactly why the government brought in new powers so that police can take swift action. The Prime Minister is pleased that play was able to resume quickly thanks to security staff, the swift hands of Jonny Bairstow and other England players.
And this is from Lee Anderson.
And here’s why
01:11 PM BST
Watch Josh Tongue’s first Ashes wicket
01:03 PM BST
Lunch: Australia 73-1
The wicket means that ball, the first of Tongue’s fourth over, will be the last before lunch. It’s still been Australia’s session, with David Warner’s assertive 53 taking them to 73/1 after being put in on what looked like a very good day for bowling.
England were unlucky at times, and both openers were dropped, but they were nowhere near their best and they lacked intensity in the field. You’d imagine it will be very different after lunch.
01:00 PM BST
Wicket!
Khawaja b Tongue 17 Josh Tongue strikes on the stroke of lunch! How England needed that. Khawaja, who until then had shown immaculate judgement outside off stump, offered no stroke to a jaffa that jagged back to hit the top of off. He looked suspiciously at the pitch from afar it seemed like a simple misjudgment. And a very good ball. FOW: 73/1
12:58 PM BST
OVER 23: AUS 73/0 (Warner 53 Khawaja 17)
Khawaja continues to be Warner’s silent partner, batting happily in his own bubble. He’s beaten by a delivery from Anderson that seams and lifts grotesquely; on commentary, Eoin Morgan notes that the ball has bounced a lot more from the Pavilion End.
Time for one more over before lunch.
12:56 PM BST
Big first session for the visitors
Huge session for Australia. The role of an opening partnership, especially when you have been put into bat, is to get to lunch. Dropping a class player like Davie Warner often leads to heartache for the fielding side. Don’t be surprised if he capitalises on his chances. He looks determined and sharp already today. Big first session for the visitors.
12:55 PM BST
Shubi Arun on Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja is easing himself into the game. His strike-rate remains in the early 20s and while Warner has brought out the scoops and hooks, Khawaja has put bat to ball on just about half the deliveries he’s faced. His discipline is the defining feature of his batting and so far, this has been another controlled innings from him. But, he’s beginning to loosen up here and has begun feeding off the bad deliveries. He’s been solid without being spectacular so far.
12:53 PM BST
OVER 22: AUS 71/0 (Warner 52 Khawaja 16)
Warner pulls Tongue for six to reach an outstanding fifty from only 66 balls. That’s quite the pre-emptive strike after Australia were put in – even more so when you consider that, before today, Warner averaged 19 in the first innings of Tests in England.
He looked positive from the first ball – in defence, in his footwork, in his running, never mind in attack. It’s Warner’s first fifty of the summer, but it has been coming.
12:49 PM BST
OVER 21: AUS 62/0 (Warner 44 Khawaja 16)
Anderson on for Broad at the Pavilion End. His first ball is fractionally short and pulled witheringly for four by Khawaja, who then shows immaculate judgement to leave two deliveries that would have hit the top of fourth stump.
For richer or poorer, Anderson is still bowling a pretty length.
12:45 PM BST
OVER 20: AUS 58/0 (Warner 44 Khawaja 12)
A lucky break for Warner, who is beaten for pace by Tongue and edges just wide of leg stump for four. Tongue looks sharp, though you wouldn’t necessarily know it from figures of 2-0-16-0.
12:42 PM BST
Robinson needs to walk as well as talk
Josh Tongue would not have been needed before lunch if Ollie Robinson had bowled to full capacity. He is down on pace, lurking below 80 mph. Where was the eight-over opening spell which Robinson has supplied at Lord’s before from the Nursery End? England need him to walk as well as talk.
12:41 PM BST
OVER 19: AUS 52/0 (Warner 38 Khawaja 12)
A leg bye brings up a determined fifty partnership between Warner (38 from 56 balls) and Khawaja (10 from 54). Both have been dropped in the slips but that’s an occupational hazard on a day like today.
Khawaja drives Broad pleasantly through mid-off for a couple more. I can’t quite believe I’m typing this but it’s England, not Australia, who need the lunch break so that they can reset.
12:36 PM BST
A terrific session for Australia
David Warner has done damn well here. Yes, he’s been dropped – badly – by Pope at fourth slip, and looks shaky against Broad. But he’s hanging in, and has 38. It’s been a terrific session for Australia so far, in very trying circumstances.
12:36 PM BST
OVER 18: AUS 49/0 (Warner 38 Khawaja 10)
Josh Tongue comes on to replace Ollie Robinson, who bowled a decent spell of 5-0-14-0. Tongue has been picked as England’s flat-pitch heavy, so I didn’t expect to see him before lunch, but Jimmy Anderson doesn’t really bowl from this end at Lord’s so Ben Stokes didn’t have many other options.
The extra pace allows Warner to belt consecutive boundaries, a late cut followed by a thumping pull shot. This is looking a bit ominous for England.
12:31 PM BST
OVER 17: AUS 39/0 (Warner 29 Khawaja 9)
England really need a wicket here, for its own sake and also to get them going. For a team that has won the toss in a mustn’t-lose game, they look surprisingly flat.
Broad has been better than most, competitive beast that he is, and he beats Warner twice in three deliveries with beautiful deliveries from round the wicket. That has roused the members from their pre-prandial slumber.
12:27 PM BST
OVER 16: AUS 39/0 (Warner 29 Khawaja 9)
Khawaja is beaten, trying to pull a wider length ball from Robinson. His innings has been a bit two-paced, whereas Warner has a lot busier. But he’s still there, and that’s all that really matters for Australia. They’ve had a superb morning after losing what seemed to be a vital toss. We may have been duped by Lord’s again: the ball has done a bit but nowhere near as much as expected.
12:23 PM BST
OVER 15: AUS 38/0 (Warner 29 Khawaja 9)
A good over from Broad is undone by the last delivery, a low full toss that Warner puts away to the cover boundary. Warner is playing extremely well.
12:21 PM BST
Should England’s slips move back for Warner?
Ollie Pope fields at second slip for Surrey, and very well too. A different angle for him at fourth slip when David Warner prods at Stuart Broad. But England’s slips should be stading a yard further back for Warner with his hard hands, than for Khawaja with his soft hands who plays the ball late.
12:18 PM BST
OVER 14: AUS 32/0 (Warner 23 Khawaja 9)
Khawaja almost suffers a freak dismissal like Harry Brook’s at Edgbaston. He tried to pull Robinson and was hit on the flap of the pad, with the ball looping up in the air. He had no idea where it was and was very relieved to see it bounce just wide of his leg stump.
Robinson is bowling well now, with some dangerous movement back into the left-handers from round the wicket. Khawaja inside-edges a single, then Warner is saved from a very good LBW shout by a late inside-edge.
12:15 PM BST
OVER 13: AUS 30/0 (Warner 22 Khawaja 8)
Warner is dropped by Pope at fourth slip! That was a much easier chance than Root’s earlier in the day. Warner pushed at a superb delivery from Broad that straightened to take the edge, and the ball burst through the hands of Pope as he reached to his right.
Pope should have taken it, though I suspect he was surprised – given the earlier edge that died on Root – by how quickly it came at him.
12:11 PM BST
Read the MCC’s statement on the Just Stop Oil protest
12:10 PM BST
Australia bring their experience to bear
England have bowled uniformly well in the first 40 minutes before the rain. James Anderson and Stuart Broad have committed to the fullish length and straightish line demanded by the conditions – and they would have had a wicket had the pitch not been so slow. The edge by Usman Khawaja off Anderson would have carried to Joe Root at first slip instead of landing on his fingernails as he dived low to his right.
The drizzly interruption should allow England to keep their three main seamers going until lunch, without any need for Josh Tongue’s extra pace or Root’s offspin: that, at least, would be the traditional strategy. But don’t be surprised if Root pops up and tries to slide one through into David Warner’s pad.
Australia, for their part, have brought all their experience to bear to survive so far. Warner is on his fourth Ashes tour after all. Khawaja has played for three counties as well as doing three Ashes tours. Keep going, England: Robinson for a long spell from the Nursey end while the others enjoy the pavilion end. Wickets could come in a cluster if the ball starts swinging in addition to the bit of seam.
12:09 PM BST
OVER 12: AUS 26/0 (Warner 19 Khawaja 7)
Robinson switches round the wicket to Warner. England look a bit flat in the field, though I’m sure a wicket would change that. Warner inside-edges a nipbacker to square leg, where a misfield from Anderson allows him to run through for a single.
Later in the over Robinson also switches his line of attack to Khawaja, who is hit high on the pad by another delivery that moves off the seam. Excellent stuff from Robinson. It’s like watching Curtly Ambrose, only 10mph slower.
12:05 PM BST
From Shubi Arun at Lord’s
The decibel levels at Lord’s, much like the pitch, are in stark contrast to what was on offer at Edgbaston. Anderson is making the ball talk but the Barmy Army is yet to find its voice this morning. The breaks in play and the drizzle may have a role to play in this but it stays like this, Stuart Broad may have to again take on the role of whipping up an atmosphere.
12:04 PM BST
OVER 11: AUS 25/0 (Warner 18 Khawaja 7)
Broad changes his ends to replace Anderson, and his first ball cuts Khawaja in half from round the wicket. False strokes are unavoidable on a morning like this, but generally Australia will be thrilled with their start.
Khawaja is beaten again by one that goes the other way, but it’s too short to take the edge. A decent maiden from Broad, who has been England’s best bowler this morning.
12:00 PM BST
OVER 10: AUS 25/0 (Warner 18 Khawaja 7)
Warner gets down on one knee to hack Robinson through square leg for four! That’s his second sweep of the morning; he’s obviously been studying videos of Mal Loye between Tests.
A good over from Robinson in terms of accuracy, with a nice full length, but not pace: the last two deliveries were below 80mph. That’s a concern for England.
11:57 AM BST
Another slow pitch at Lord’s
There is lateral movement but no pace in this pitch despite MCC digging up the surface over the winter. They removed 10mm of topsoil and relaid the whole square with new rye grass following complaints from England about the slowness of Lord’s pitches. The first ball from Broad bounced twice to the keeper and the England slips moved up closer to the stumps. The only edge so far from Khawaja just carried to root at first slip. Not a good sign on day one.
11:57 AM BST
Play to resume
The players are on the field and Ollie Robinson, who has a fine record at Lord’s, has the ball in his hand.
We lost 12 minutes, which will be tacked on the evening session.
11:50 AM BST
The covers are coming off
Shouldn’t be long, 5-10 minutes I’d imagine.
11:45 AM BST
Rain stops play
That’s frustrating for England, though the Australian openers look very happy to stroll off. They’ve played really well in challenging circumstances, David Warner in particular.
The rain isn’t heavy so it shouldn’t be a long way.
11:44 AM BST
OVER 9: AUS 20/0 Warner 14 Khawaja 6)
Anderson continues to Warner, who offers no stroke to an outswinger on length. I wonder if Anderson has been slightly too short, though maybe I’m just living in the past. When he does pitch it up, Warner tries to drive and is beaten all ends up.
Bairstow does very well to save four byes down the leg side, and the over ends with Warner clipping for two. Anderson’s figures are pretty (5-1-8-0) but I’m not sure he’s been at his best.
11:39 AM BST
OVER 8: AUS 18/0 Warner 11 Khawaja 6)
Time for some nude nuts: Ollie Robinson is on for Stuart Broad (3-0-7-0). His first over is relatively innocuous, and Khawaja gets his first boundary with a careful steer to third man.
11:35 AM BST
OVER 7: AUS 13/0 Warner 11 Khawaja 2)
Still plenty of movement for Anderson, mainly in the air, and Khawaja is intent on nothing but survival. Anderson tries one delivery round the wicket, and Khawaja defends that as well.
11:34 AM BST
The first chance goes begging
After no slip catches off pace bowlers in the whole first Test, takes only 29 balls of the second for a chance – but dropped by Joe Root as it died on him off Usman Khawaja. After a tricky first Test, James Anderson will be encouraged by the assistance so far this morning. Slips, you suspect, will be much more important than at Edgbaston.
11:33 AM BST
From Shubi Arun at Lord’s
David Warner has shown intent here today by taking guard outside the crease. One of the biggest reasons for his travails in the 2019 series was his passiveness. He backed himself into a corner with his uncertainty and edginess. But in the WTC Final and the first Ashes Test, we’ve seen a more proactive Warner. While he hasn’t converted any of his starts yet, he’s been unafraid to play his shots. That shift in mindset itself has quietened some of the discussion around his place in the XI.
11:31 AM BST
Watch Jonny Bairstow remove a Just Stop Oil protester
And here Will Macpherson’s news story.
Bairstow has form for taking on pitch invaders. At the Oval in September 2021 in a Test against India, he collided with the YouTube prankster Daniel “Jarvo 69” Jarvis when he broke onto the field. Here, he followed the example set by England rugby player Tom Curry, who helped stewards apprehend the protestors at Twickenham last month.
Read more…
11:30 AM BST
OVER 6: AUS 12/0 Warner 10 Khawaja 2)
Hello! Warner gets down on one knee to ramp Broad, Joe Root-style. He doesn’t nail it and the ball drops short of deep backward square for a single, but that took everybody by surprise. Warner and Broad, who seem to get on well these days despite their ongoing battle, have a smile about it.
A couple of quick singles keep the scoreboard moving. Warner has 10 from 18 balls, Khawaja 2 from 18.
11:28 AM BST
The glorious Lord’s silence
There is a deafening silence that comes with the first ball, the first over, of a Lord’s Test. In complete contrast to every other ground in the world I find it extraordinary how silence prevails here. What a day. It was nice to stand in the long room and watch from the other side of the fence. Unlike the silence of the first over, the long room exploded as the players walked out to play. It’s a wonderful experience being here.
11:27 AM BST
OVER 5: AUS 9/0 (Warner 8 Khawaja 1)
Khawaja is dropped by Root! It was a very difficult chance at first slip, almost on the half volley, when Khawaja edged a classic outswinger from Anderson.
Ordinarily Bairstow might have dived across Root but his weight was going the wrong way. It really was a fiendishly difficult chance for Root, who is so good at first slip.
11:25 AM BST
Our chief sports writer Oliver Brown on Jonny Bairstow’s intervention
It was the spectacle that the Marylebone Cricket Club had most feared, the first morning of the Lord’s Ashes Test being garishly disfigured by Just Stop Oil protesters and their signature orange dust. With just one James Anderson over bowled, a chorus of hostility and derision erupted around the ground at the sight of two activists rushing on to try to ruin the pitch. But it was Jonny Bairstow who bequeathed one of the iconic images of the summer, intercepting one demonstrator and carrying him all the way back across the outfield to the stands. Security at Lord’s is now skittish, alarmed by how easily the cordon was breached. As for the invader himself? As the great John Arlott once said of a streaker: “I think he may have seen his last cricket for the day.”
11:21 AM BST
OVER 4: AUS 8/0 (Warner 7 Khawaja 1)
Australia have made a positive start, in attack and especially defence. Warner times Broad square on the off side for two, then gets in a bit of trouble when he tries to leave at the last minute. The ball hits the face of the bat but drops safely on the off side.
11:17 AM BST
OVER 3: AUS 5/0 (Warner 4 Khawaja 1)
Khawaja does well to drop an awkward delivery from Anderson well short of the cordon. It looks a slow pitch, a typical English slow seamer in many ways, so the slip cordon is quite close.
Anderson tries to surprise Khawaja with the one that goes the other way. Khawaja offers no stroke, a good leave despite the oohs and aahs of the England bowlers. This is a serious challenge for the Australian batters; so far they have looked good.
11:15 AM BST
Bairstow carries off Just Stop Oil protester
Here’s our news story from Will Macpherson on Jonny Bairstow’s intervention at Lord’s.
11:14 AM BST
OVER 2: AUS 5/0 (Warner 4 Khawaja 1)
Broad also has four slips and starts around the wicket to both Khawaja (despite the data) and Warner (because of it). Khawaja gets off the mark with a single and Warner defends/leaves the last two deliveries of the over. It’s been an encouraging start for England, with plenty of movement in the air and off the seam.
11:11 AM BST
Bairstow saves Lord’s pitch from damage
Jonny Bairstow’s quick thinking saved the Lord’s pitch from damage and a serious delay in the Test match. A protester tried to spread orange powder on the pitch but ran straight into Bairstow, a top rugby player in his youth, about ten metres from the pitch. Bairstow picked him up and carried him off to the side of the boundary underneath the Grandstand. Bairstow received a tap on the shoulder from Ben Duckett when he walked back to behind the stumps. Bairstow a couple of years prevented a pitch invader at the Oval.
11:10 AM BST
Play is about to resume
While everyone waits for Jonny Bairstow, David Warner and Stuart Broad stand around shooting the breeze. I’d love to know what they were talking about. But never mind that, Bairstow and back and Broad is about to begin his first over.
11:07 AM BST
Just Stop Oil protest stops play
A couple of protesters managed to get onto the field a moment ago. One was bundled to the ground, the other lifted all the way to the boundary by England’s He-Man, Jonny Bairstow.
There’s a brief delay as a result, and Bairstow has gone off the field to change some of his kit. There’s also a load of orange powder on the outfield; I don’t think there’s any on the pitch itself – possibly because of Bairstow’s intervention.
11:02 AM BST
OVER 1: AUS 4/0 (Warner 4 Khawaja 0)
England finished the Edgbaston Test with no slips. Today they have four, and the early signs are that they’ll have some work to do.
Warner is beaten by his second ball, flashing needlessly at a shortish outswinger. There’s plenty of movement for Anderson – but his fourth ball is slightly too full and that allows Warner to drive through extra cover for four. Good shot.
An intriguing first over ends with a strangled LBW shout against Warner from a ball that pitched outside leg.
11:00 AM BST
Here we go
James Anderson will open the bowling to David Warner. The pitch is green, the lights are on, it’s humid… the ball surely has to swing this morning.
10:57 AM BST
From Shubi Arun at Lord’s
The pitch here at Lord’s is significantly more green than the one at Edgbaston which James Anderson likened to kryptonite in his Telegraph column. Coupled with the overcast conditions, there should be more movement on offer to the pacers. I’d be surprised if Anderson, who bowled just 14 overs in the second innings of the first Test and didn’t take the second new ball, isn’t given the new ball here. England’s superman could be set to fly again today.
10:56 AM BST
Perfect conditions for Anderson and Broad
Conditions could not be better for old-fashioned England seam bowling. Pluperfect conditions indeed, everything that the analyst could have ordered. The covers have just been removed again, to reveal relative greenness. Thick cloud, and it is sultry, and usually it is the case that the more humid it is, the more the new ball swings conventionally.
Will James Anderson and Stuart Broad pitch it up and attack the stumps, as they have been doing under the Stokes/McCullum regime – or revert to bowling wide, and “dry”, as they used to do, especially when Joe Root chose to bowl first? The series hinges on it. England, if they are ever going to bounce back, have to do it today.
10:55 AM BST
Here come the players
Ben Stokes and Pat Cummins lead their teams through the Long Room and onto the field for the anthems. It’s time for one of the great sporting occasions: the Lord’s Ashes Test.
10:54 AM BST
An enormous toss to win
Just an enormous toss for England to win. Not sure you’d fancy the brave Bazballers teeing off on a morning like this. It’s cold, dark, and the covers are on because of a few specks of rain in the air.
10:41 AM BST
More rain at Lord’s
It’s very light, but the hover cover is going on as a precaution. The panel on Sky Sports are discussing the possibility of this being a very short Test match, given the weather forecast for the next couple of days.
“We could see a couple of innings over very quickly,” says Ricky Ponting. At the toss Athers said, ‘Good luck over the five days.’ With the way these teams play their cricket, I don’t think this is going five days at all!”
10:33 AM BST
The teams
One change apiece from Edgbaston: Josh Tongue for Moeen Ali and Mitchell Starc for Scott Boland. A side effect of that is that Australia have improved their tail and England have weakened theirs. You might even say that England have four No11s.
England Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (c), Bairstow (wk), Broad, Robinson, Tongue, Anderson.
Australia Warner, Khawaja, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Green, Carey (wk), Starc, Cummins, Lyon, Hazlewood.
10:31 AM BST
England win the toss and bowl
“Overheads have played a massive part in the decision,” says Ben Stokes. “The wicket’s got a bit of grass on it so hopefully we can exploit it.”
Pat Cummins says he would have bowled as well. “We’re happy with how Scotty [Boland] is going but we wanted a bit of variety and he’s the unlucky one to miss out this week.”
10:22 AM BST
Ollie Robinson is no clown – Australia should beware taking him on
Clearly the quality of discourse has regressed from totally reasonable criticism of a gratuitous send-off delivered in the heat of the moment to attempts to belittle the ability of the ICC’s fifth-ranked Test bowler, who has an average of 21.2, for his “nude nuts” and inability to regularly bowl 85, let alone 90mph
Read more…
10:20 AM BST
Meet Josh Tongue
Tongue’s bowling has been compared to skipper Stokes’s, in his prime, with the bowling arm going beyond the perpendicular and capacity to bowl at different phases. The captain certainly liked what he saw, not least in an eight-over spell that showed his durability. It is his ability to bowl spells of bouncers, perhaps at the tail, that has won him a place.
Read more…
10:17 AM BST
A bit of rain at Lord’s
Greetings from Lord’s, where the hovercover is currently in place because of a few of the lightest specks of rain. Don’t think there’s anything to worry about with the toss half an hour away. The members’ stands are rammed, with the second most famous queue in British sport starting typically early this morning.
Word is that, as expected, Scott Boland has been dropped for Mitchell Starc, which gives Australia a pacier edge to their attack, and should worry England’s very long tail. England obviously showed their hand yesterday, allowing Australia to swat up on Ashes rookie Josh Tongue.
10:14 AM BST
Stokes’ most un-Bazball decision can win England the Test
Zak Crawley read a Chinese proverb to the team on Monday, essentially its message being to handle good and bad luck with the same self-control. Cool heads will be needed this week. England will be hoping to win the toss and bowl on day one, allowing their seamers to dictate early, but if they bat first it will be Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope who will be in the firing line and two of the three had low scoring matches in Birmingham. All three have doubts over techniques against quick bowling.
Read more…
10:10 AM BST
The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket
The release of a damning report into cricket’s inequity has cast an uncomfortable shadow over the Lord’s Ashes Test. We’ve got a number of a features well worth reading.
10:00 AM BST
The toss
There’s rain in the air at Lord’s and it feels like a bowling day – though that isn’t without risk on a ground where appearances can be deceptive. Two Tests against India, in 2014 and 2018, offer two contrasting precedents for England.
On both occasions England won the toss and bowled first in mouthwatering conditions. In 2014 they bowled poorly and slipped to a humiliating defeat; in 2018 they won by an innings.
09:55 AM BST
Lyon to make 100th consecutive Test appearance
As England drop their spinner, Australia celebrate theirs
By Will Macpherson at Lord’s
The contrast was striking. As England drop their spinner, Moeen Ali, one game into a return after a two-year red-ball retirement, Australia’s spinner, Nathan Lyon, plays his 100th successive Test.
Lyon will become the sixth man to play 100 Tests in a row but, impressively, the first bowler. The next most successive Tests by a bowler is just 60, by India’s Anil Kumble. There is a symmetry to Lyon reaching the landmark at Lord’s. The Test here a decade ago, when teenage Ashton Agar was Australia’s spinner, was the last missed by Lyon.
Having picked up eight wickets at Edgbaston, Lyon is on the verge of a milestone: he is five shy of 500 Test wickets. Only seven men lie ahead of him on that list.
It is a long time since Australia considered going into a game without Lyon, a voraciously hard-worker who recalls being desperate to bowl at his right-handed team-mates on that 2013 tour in order to improve.
“I think it’s a testament not only to how good Nathan is in terms of longevity and fitness and form, but to be able to play 100 (consecutive) Tests means you are getting picked in all conditions,” said his captain, Pat Cummins.
“I know at the start of his career you might have talked about four quicks at the Gabba, but he is just so valuable to our team I couldn’t imagine a side without Nath in there.
“So I’ve seen they (England) have gone with four quicks, which is probably as we expected after seeing Moeen’s injury last week. But I feel really lucky we’ve got Nathan.
“His 100th consecutive Test match, 500 Test wickets, it’s incredible all the milestones he keeps ticking off. This is a really special place in cricket but for Australia as well, we’ve had some success at this ground in recent years so yeah, a big one for the memory bank.”
England have not hidden their strategy of attacking Lyon. At Edgbaston, they had mixed success. They managed to score at four runs an over, but lost eight wickets, including three stumped, and Jonny Bairstow reverse-sweeping.
“If they want to try and keep going that way, he is someone who thinks about the game quite a lot, in terms of different ways to take wickets and get better,” said Mitchell Starc on Monday.
“The fact he has played 100 consecutive Test matches, and be the only bowler to do so, is very special and I know he’s very proud of that. I know he’s gone from 400 to 495 in rapid time, and speaks to his ability to adapt to different conditions, opponents and the way they want to play him.
“England’s approach is their approach, but he will keep reading the game and adapting, which is what has made him such a successful bowler for a long period of time.”
In Starc, who is likely to come into Australia’s XI, Lyon has the perfectly complementary partner. The tall left-armer creates perfectly placed footmarks outside the right-hander’s off-stump, for Lyon to aim at. Starc jokes that the last time they played against each other was in the age groups, when he was with New South Wales and Lyon at Australian Capital Territory. Now they both play for Australia and NSW.
It is not just as a helping hand to Lyon that Starc adds to Australia’s XI. The left-arm angle adds a point of difference, and his ability to blast out England’s tail – lengthened with Josh Tongue replacing Moeen Ali – is invaluable. Starc is known in Australia as the “the mop” for the way he cleans up the lower order with an approach that attacks the batsman’s nose or toes, and little in between.
A fear that he could be profligate has seen Starc omitted at Edgbaston, and on the 2019 tour of England, when he only played at Old Trafford.
“I’m used to it now, coming to England,” he said.
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1-1 or 0-2?
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live coverage of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. It’s hardly a plot spoiler to say there will be a positive result in this game – we all know Ben Stokes is allergic to draws – so the next five days (probably fewer, given the pitch) are of immense and slightly scary significance.
If England win, it’ll be 1-1 (you Aussie b*****d) and the comparisons with 2005 will be irresistible. If they lose, we’ll be faced with the dampest of squibs: Australia 2-0 up in this country for the first time since 2001, and England needing to win the last three Tests to regain the Ashes.
The first Test at Edgbaston was a classic – but, like an equally glorious match at Trent Bridge at 2013, it will largely be forgotten if the series becomes one-sided. Since that agonising defeat England have indulged in some peculiar, almost mischievous trash talk, so imagine the delight among pun-loving hacks when they called up a man called Tongue.
The inclusion of Josh Tongue ahead of Moeen Ali means that, for the first time under Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England will go into a Test without a specialist spinner. It’s a calculated risk, but one that has plenty of logic given conditions at Lord’s. It’s green, it’s overcast and it’s not what was in the brochure for this series. In April Stokes said he wanted “fast, flat wickets”. He got one out of two at Edgbaston; looks like none out of two here.
Australia are expected to bring in Mitchell Starc for Scott Boland, which is a surprise given conditions at Lord’s. That will mean a slight chance of approach, though they are unlikely to deviate too far from the Edgbaston blueprint. There has been so much chat since the first Test – of nude nuts, going harder and other double entendres – that it has been easy to lose sight of one immutable truth: Australia won the game. And because of that, England simply have to win at Lord’s. The alternative does not bear thinking about.
Play starts at 11am, with the toss at 10.30am.
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