Sawt Falasteen - England bowl as Australia recall Starc for 2nd Ashes Test

The overcast and humid conditions, allied to a green-tinged pitch, promised to aid England's fast bowlers as the hosts look to level the five-match series at 1-1 following Australia's thrilling two-wicket win in the first Test at Edgbaston last week.

England had already named their side on Tuesday, with fast bowler Josh Tongue, who only made his Test debut against Ireland at Lord's earlier this month, replacing injured off-spinner Moeen Ali.

Tongue's inclusion meant England's attack consisted of four frontline seamers and no specialist slow bowler, although Stokes did have the option to call upon Joe Root's occasional off-breaks.

Australia recalled express left-arm quick Starc in place of Scott Boland after England got after the normally miserly seamer in Birmingham.

Nathan Lyon became the first specialist bowler to appear in 100 consecutive Tests after being included in Ashes-holders Australia's XI, with the off-spinner needing just five more wickets to become only the eighth man to take 500 in Tests.

Teams

England: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, James Anderson

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wkt), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Ahsan Raza (PAK)

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)

Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

U.AlSharif--SF-PST