England made a surprise call for the second Ashes Test at Lord's by selecting untested seamer Josh Tongue as the replacement for spinner Moeen Ali.
Spinning all-rounder Moeen suffered blisters on his bowling finger during the narrow two-wicket defeat in the series opener at Edgbaston.
It was hoped that express pace bowler Mark Wood would be selected, especially since the home team failed to take the final two Aussie lower order wickets in the opening Test.
However, Worcestershire paceman Tongue, 25, was preferred for the match that starts on Wednesday with Wood not yet considered fit enough to last a full five-day Test.
Seamer Chris Woakes and leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed were also overlooked of Tongue, who impressed with a maiden five-wicket haul on his debut against Ireland earlier this month.
"We needed to get to Lord's first and see what conditions we were faced with," England captain Ben Stokes said.
"We wanted to play Mark Wood but we felt while he could definitely start the game, we felt an extra week of build-up and loading him would give him a better chance to play fully from Headingley [third Test] onwards.
"And we brought Tonguey into the team as a like-for-like with Woody. I'm looking forward to seeing Tonguey continue his great start he had against Ireland here.
"Me and Mark are great friends, we go back a long way ... I spoke to him about how I'd want him to operate in this game and he was very honest with me. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to give what he's known for throughout this Test match.
"So the decision was made to allow him to keep building his body up to give himself the best opportunity to go out from Leeds onwards to play a full part."
England look set to use the part-time off spin of Joe Root beside a seam attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Tongue.
Stokes also hopes to bowl more after managing 14 overs and taking two wickets last week as he looks to ease himself back from a knee injury.
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Australia's captain Pat Cummins celebrates after hitting the winning runs against England on day five of the Ashes first Test at Edgbaston on June 20, 2023. Getty -
Pat Cummins of Australia celebrates after beating England. Getty -
Pat Cummins of Australia celebrates after hitting the winning runs with teammate Nathan Lyon. Getty -
England captain Ben Stokes reacts. AP -
Joe Root of England celebrates with Ben Stokes after catching Alex Carey of Australia off his own bowling. Getty -
England captain Ben Stokes celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Australia's Usman Khawaja. PA -
Ollie Robinson of England celebrates after taking the wicket of Cameron Green. Getty -
Australia's Cameron Green is bowled by Ollie Robinson. AFP -
England's Ollie Robinson celebrates after taking the wicket of Cameron Green. Getty -
Australia's Cameron Green is bowled by England's Ollie Robinson during day five of the first Ashes test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Picture date: Tuesday June 20, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story CRICKET England. Photo credit should read: Mike Egerton/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. No commercial use without prior written consent of the ECB. Still image use only. No moving images to emulate broadcast. No removing or obscuring of sponsor logos. -
Moeen Ali of England celebrates with Ben Stokes after taking the wicket of Travis Head. Getty -
England's Moeen Ali celebrates after dismissing Australia's Travis Head. AP -
England's Stuart Broad celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia's Scott Boland on day five of the first Ashes Test match at Edgbaston on June 20, 2023. PA -
Australia's Scott Boland after being dismissed by England's Stuart Broad. PA -
Australia's Scott Boland ducks under a short ball. AFP -
Travis Head of Australia hits out. Getty
“Being able to bowl that longer spell on the last day was another confidence boost for me,” he said. “At the moment things are looking good and hopefully I can play even more of a part with the ball this game.”
Meanwhile, Australia's left-arm quick Mitchell Starc is in contention to return to the bowling attack for the second Test but captain Pat Cummins said he may delay a decision on the final line-up closer to Wednesday's toss.
The Lord's pitch appeared reasonably green two days before the Test and, should it remain that way, is expected to provide more pace and bounce than the flat track for the opener at Birmingham.
Cummins said the weather may also come into play, with heavy clouds forecast for Wednesday, as he faces a selection headache with Starc, Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood vying for two spots in the pace attack.
"I think it's a factor, well see," Cummins said on Tuesday. "We'll work it out tomorrow, give the wicket another day, see what they do with it, see what the weather's like.
"I thought everyone who played last week did a great job. We've got Starcy there obviously who didn't play last week who comes into the conversation as well."
Cummins shared a match-winning 55-run stand with Nathan Lyon at Edgbaston as Australia's traditional approach to Test cricket trumped England's 'Bazball' flamboyance.
The match should be a momentous one for spinner Lyon who is set to appear in his 100th consecutive Test and is just five shy of 500 wickets.
