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A brilliant century from opening batsman Akash Chopra (109 off 132 balls) took India A to a convincing five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka A in the deciding fifth one-day match played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, on Thursday. India A thereby won the five-match series 2-1, after rain had washed out the first two encounters.In the morning, Sri Lanka A elected to bat first but found the going tough against a resilient visiting side. Most of their batsmen got to double figures yet failed to convert those into even a fifty. Only Romesh Kaluwitharana (34 off 43 balls) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (47 off 79 balls) made mentionable contributions.A late flourish from Chamara Silva (29 off 24 balls) and Akalanka Ganegama (16* off 18 balls) however helped Sri Lanka A post 223/8 in 50 overs. Lakshmipathy Balaji and Irfan Pathan Jr picked up two wickets each. Earlier, Sarandeep Singh (7-0-27-1) had applied the screws in the middle overs of the Sri Lanka A innings.Chasing a modest target of 224 in 50 overs, India A were never in trouble and emerged victorious with 2.2 overs to spare. Chopra, a 24-year-old right-handed batsman from Delhi, applied himself to the task admirably, striking eight boundaries while compiling a match-winning hundred.India A lost the wicket of Gautam Gambhir (5), early in their run chase. Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (24) and Rohan Gavaskar (16) could not capitalise on their good starts and India A were 98/3 in the 29th over.Chopra then found an ally in Jai P Yadav with whom he added 116 runs for the fourth wicket in just 16.5 overs. The partnership all but took the match away from the home team. Yadav made a whirlwind 55 off just 52 balls, striking three boundaries and a six.Even though India A lost the wickets of Yadav and Chopra with just a few runs needed to seal the win, Parthiv Patel (3*) and Sridharan Sriram (1*) ensured the emphatic victory.

Test week at Lord’s and the place is a buzz with final preparations taking place before Thursday.Tension is high as players go through their last practice sessions and the groundsman studies the sky, nervously predicting how much sun he needs to get the surface right.We make way this week for the England boys who obviously have the run of the roost during Test match time.We’re up in Durham this week so we will be watching from afar, but for our Monday training session we moved into the ‘Away’ changing rooms as the English team had gathered early.I’m certainly not a person that dwells on past performances, but I must confess that being back in the ‘visitors’ rooms stirs up emotional memories from two years ago when New Zealand won its first Test at Lord’s.M J Horne is the last ‘visitor’ to score a Test 100 at Lord’s and his name is proudly engraved on the batters’ honours board. On the bowling honours board, D J Nash, with match figures of 11-169 back in 1994, is the last New Zealand entry. That was a huge series for Nashy and the following season he became New Zealand’s first overseas player to Middlesex. Unfortunately he was dogged by injury, the beginning of the back problems that still frustrate him.Speaking of Middlesex, we are top of the CricInfo Championship Division Two table after having a pretty good week in Bristol playing Gloucestershire.Gloucestershire are coached by John Bracewell and in the last couple of years have almost won every one-day competition around. He has done a fantastic job for the county and is a very influential figure in their progress.On the third night of the game I enjoyed an evening of the Bracewell’s hospitality and polite banter was exchanged with Gloucester looking to set us a target on the final day. They left us 293 in 82 overs, a score we reached five down with two overs remaining. We were delighted as a win obviously gives you good championship points. But it also gives you confidence, and that is vital as the season progresses.On a personal front, scoring my first hundred for the county was very special. It is one of my goals to score more centuries and I’m very determined to achieve this.I was gutted scoring 52 in the first innings but progressed through in the second which was satisfying. Scoring centuries is a skill and as with everything you must learn how to do it.The more I can get past three figures, the more I will understand the process.

If coach Graham Ford isn’t sacked before August, the first casualties of South Africa’s disastrous campaign against Australia this summer will be Rushdi Magiet’s panel of national selectors.Originally appointed to serve until after next year’s World Cup, the national selection panel will come up for re-election at the United Cricket Board’s annual meeting in August, following a decision taken by the UCB’s General Council at the weekend.In a surprisingly blunt media release issued on Tuesday, the UCB says: "The decision to appoint the national selection panel untilthe 2003 Cricket World Cup was rescinded and a new national selection panelis to be elected at the UCB AGM in August. It is possible that the size ofthe panel may be reduced."One of the members of the current panel, Mike Procter, has already indicated that he will step down at the end of the current Australian tour to take up a position as an ICC Match Referee, but the remaining five, Magiet, Graeme Pollock, Haroon Lorgat, Morris Garda and Peter Bacela will have to seek re-election if they wish to continue as selectors.This unexpected decision can only be taken as a vote of no-confidence in the panel by the General Council and it follows a summer of confusion, acrimony and, often, straightforward bungling by the selectors.The most public eruption took place before the New Year Test match in Sydney when UCB president Percy Sonn rejected the team presented to him and insisted on the replacement of Jacques Rudolph with Justin Ontong.Sonn’s intervention divided South African down racial lines, but the row could have been avoided had the selectors chosen both Rudolph and Ontong to play in what had already become a "dead" Test match.All through the season, though, routine selection announcements have been bungled by incorrect team sheets, and implausible and incoherent explanations; dropped players have learned of their fates through newspaper and radio reports and an almost complete breakdown of communication between Magiet and the South African coach Graham Ford has evolved.It is possible, of course, that some of the selectors, including Magiet, could win re-election. This, though, would beg the question of why the UCB has chosen to terminate the current panel’s tenure in the first place.In another announcement, the UCB said it regarded the Daryll Cullinan affair as now closed. Cullinan was selected for the second Test match against Australia at Newlands, but walked out on the team after failing to agree contractual terms with the UCB.According to the media release: "The General Council reiterated the position of the CEO,Gerald Majola, that the issue of Daryll Cullinan’s departure from the teamselected to play against Australia in the second Castle Lager/MTN Test matchat Newlands, is closed. The Council decided not to take the matter furtheras the UCB has no contract with Mr Cullinan."This would seem to indicate that Cullinan’s international career is over.

Test pacer Darren Powell picked up three wickets as West Indies A recorded a comprehensive victory in their tour match with Warwickshire at Edgbaston.The Jamaican quick returned figures of 3/55, with Tino Best collecting 2/40 and Ryan Hinds 2/47 in a professional performance. Mark Wagh’s accomplished 86 was the highlight of a disappointing Warwickshire effort.Despite Wagh’s knock, and cavalier efforts from Dominic Ostler and Dougie Brown, Warwickshire were never realistically in the victory hunt. Theyeventually succumbed at 6pm, losing by 120 runs. James Spires and AlexanderAllen battled hard at the death, before Hinds trapped Spires leg before justas time was running out.Set 371 to record an unlikely victory, Warwickshire lost wickets steadilythroughout the day. First to go was skipper Michael Powell, trapped leg-before to an in-ducker from his West Indian namesake. Jim Troughton, a young batsman whose free-flowing game has attracted much attention, hit a couple of pleasing boundaries before he snicked Powell through to keeper Lendl Simmons.Dominic Ostler, clearly thinking the win was a possibility, however remote, set about the bowling with ferocity. He blasted seven fours in 22 balls, Marlon Black proving particularly expensive. On 31, going for one big shot too many, Ostler played around a straight one from Best.Dougie Brown, who hit an expansive 65 in the first innings, batted with similar vigour in the second. With the elegant support of Wagh, Brown saw the innings through to lunch. He hit four boundaries in his 35, only to be grabbed close in by Daren Ganga to give Ryan Hinds a wicket.Graham Wagg had his stumps uprooted by Powell soon after, while Mohamed Sheikh latched onto some loose deliveries to make 16. Best accounted for the all-rounder though, hitting the stumps for a second time.Wagh, having survived hostile spells from Best and Powell, fell victim to Gareth Breese’s off-spin. Wagh, who captained Oxford University in 1997,showed his class throughout his four-hour knock. Shortly after he struck his14th crisp boundary, he was adjudged lbw to Breese.Nick Warren and Alan Richardson went early, leaving too much for the pluckylast wicket pair of Allen and Spires.Earlier, West Indies A had looked for quick runs. Breese, along with Dwayne Bravo, did not disappoint, extending their partnership to 65 before Ganga called his men in. Breese remained unbeaten on 54 (eight fours, one six) while Bravo’s run-a-ball 37 included five boundaries.

A dazzling century by Shahid Afridi laid the foundation of a healthyKarachi Whites score on a fluctuating opening day of the Quaid-i-AzamTrophy Grade-I final against Lahore Blues at the National Stadium inKarachi on Saturday.Afridi, stroking the ball in his inimitable style, hammered asparkling 102 off 107 deliveries with 10 fours and one six in justover three hours.Then a mini middle-order collapse saw Karachi Whites crashing to 190for six shortly after tea, before an unfinished crucial 96-run standbetween Aamir Hanif (43) and Mohammad Masroor (57) lifted the score to286 by stumps.It was an excellent comeback by Karachi Whites on a pitch that issomewhat inconsistent in bounce.Lahore Blues skipper Shahid Anwar, as expected, elected to put inKarachi Whites once he had called correctly at the toss. But theadvantage of bowling first was wasted as Wasim Akram and Abdur Razzaqsprayed the new ball all over the place.Just two wickets fell in the first hour. The left-handed Shadab Kabirwas caught behind off Razzaq for a duck in the fourth over.Then Zeeshan Pervez (19), who was shaping well, hit three crispboundaries including two off Akram. However, he was undone by a shortAkram delivery that rose awkwardly to hit the outside edge of the batand balooned into the slips.Afridi, meanwhile, continued to score freely and it was chieflybecause of him that Karachi Whites took lunch at 118 for two.Skipper Asif Mujtaba provided Afridi the kind of support that wasneeded. The pair together put the highest partnership of the day – 137for third wicket.Such was Afridi’s dominance that at one stage Akram was forced to bowlwith a solitary slip. Displaying a wide repertoire of strokes, Afriditreated the bowling with scant respect. He lofted medium-pacer WaqasAhmed off the front foot over mid-wicket fence for an effortless six.Afridi then became one of Abdur Razzaq’s three victims in 27deliveries when a rush of blood brought his downfall. Hasan Razalasted only four deliveries before he mistimed a pull and edged aneasy catch to wicket-keeper Humayun FarhatMujtaba, who batted for 186 minutes for a 149-ball 39, was caught byShahid Anwar at second slip when the ball rebounded off first slipAkram’s body.Moin Khan, the Pakistan captain, had a brief stay in the middle. Hemade seven before he nibbled at Akram and provided Humayun his fourthvictim of the innings.Aamir Hanif looked shaky at the start of his innings but graduallysettled down to make a vital contribution. Masroor, a diminutiveright-hander, in contrast struck some delightful pulls and hooks.It was a brave effort from Masroor for he was hit on the box by asharp inswinger from Akram. Recovering his composure after a sevenminute hold up in play, Masroor reached a fine 50 off 62 balls withhis eighth boundary.

Luke Ronchi, who has spent the past two summers playing for Bashley (Rydal) in the Southern Electric Premier League, has won a coveted place in Australia’s Cricket Academy.He had originally intended to return for another season with the New Forest club.”But once Luke knew he had been short-listed for the Academy, there was no way he was coming back to us, not this season at any rate,” explained Bashley skipper Neil Taylor. “Everyone at the club is absolutely delighted for him.”Ronchi is among 14 of Australia’s most promising junior cricketers to be awarded a scholarship at the Adelaide-based Commonweath Bank Academy, which is run by former Australian Test wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh.Selection is a dream come true for the talented Perth wicketkeeper-batsman, who has been nudging Western Australia’s selectors this past winter.Ronchi, a right-hand batsman with awesome back-foot striking power, scored 1,250 Southern League runs in his two summers at Bashley.He played several times for WA 2nd XI during the past Australian season.And with Perth CC clubmate Adam Gilchrist now firmly established in the Test arena with Australia, Ronchi has a great chance to stake his claim behind the stumps in the WA State team.Speaking from his Perth home, Ronchi said : “Being selected for the Academy has given me a great incentive to make a career in the game. “But it is down to me to make a success of it.”I know I’ve got a lot of learning still to do, but I’m a couple of rungs up the ladder now and don’t intend to waste the opportunity.”With Ronchi remaining in Australia this winter, Shaun Lilley and Chris Gates are expected to vye for the Bashley wicketkeeping slot this season.

Not for the first time this year England were back in the nets trying to find a way to solve their problems against spin. The net session at the P Sara Oval was not a direct response to the demise for 80 against India – they had been scheduled for a likely training session in any case – but the events of the previous evening gave a clear focus to what was required.Andy Flower and Graham Gooch, two outstanding batsmen of spin in their day, gave plenty of throw downs and shared plenty of advice as they have done throughout the year. On the evidence of how the current crop played Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla not all of it is being absorbed.The middle of a tournament is not the time to be trying to remodel techniques or radically change gameplans, but if England have serious ambitions of moving beyond the Super Eight stage they are going to have to adapt quickly. Their half of the draw has been termed the easier route to the knockout stage, yet each team they face will have bowlers to exploit their major weakness.Sunil Narine will be first, when they face West Indies on Thursday, followed by the more orthodox but no-less-effective Daniel Vettori then back to mystery with a four-over trial from Ajantha Mendis. Do not rule out Sri Lanka throwing in their wild-card, 18-year old Akila Dananjaya, either. It is those future challenges, rather than what happened on Sunday evening, that is now the focus of the England team.”It was a disappointing performance – we’re human enough to say that and realise that obvious fact,” Craig Kieswetter said. “We’ve played spin well; we’ve beaten Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan in the sub-continent before. It was just a bad performance.”We’re not getting too down about it. Confidence is still high; we’re still playing some great cricket and we’re pretty glad we’ve got that game out of the way at the best time possible.”Much like Stuart Broad’s assertion that England do not have a problem against spin it was not entirely convincing from Kieswetter, who top-scored in the 80 with 35 made largely before the spinners came on, but the quick-fire nature of the tournament does at least offer a chance to move on quickly. Kieswetter will also remember that England were far from convincing getting out of their group in 2010 – squeezing through without winning a game – before surging to the title.”What’s done is done. We did what we needed to do and qualified and now we’re through to the business part of the competition,” he said. “Now you’ll see the good teams put their hands up and actually put up performances that really matter.”But can England fine a way against spin? “You’ve got to be more streetwise, be prepared to score ugly runs. We’ve got to be adaptable to the wickets,” he said. “We played across the line a bit too much. We should have played a bit straighter.”We realise that; we’ve highlighted it and we’re obviously going to learn from that. It’s probably a good learning curve to have. It didn’t turn as much and we probably expected, and we played for a bit too much turn. The ball’s a bit more unpredictable here – it either spins or it doesn’t – it’s not as predictable as in England.”

ScorecardAdam Wheater scored his first Championship hundred for Hampshire•Getty Images

Rather like Charles II, Hampshire’s batsmen took an unconscionable time a-dying on the last day of this game and rarely has a death been so entertaining. The 550 spectators who took advantage of the free admission on Saturday morning and trooped into the Trafalgar Road ground can scarcely have imagined that they would get such good value for their money.The main cause of the fans’ pleasure – and the 6,500 who attended this game over four days were not slow to applaud both sides – was a magnificently enterprising 191-run eighth wicket partnership between Adam Wheater and Matt Coles. This pair defied Lancashire’s seven-man attack until an hour into the afternoon session when Wheater pushed forward to Simon Kerrigan and was caught by Gareth Cross for 140.By then Hampshire’s wicketkeeper-batsman, whose signing had so perturbed the supporters of former gloveman Michael Bates, had helped Coles break the eighth-wicket record for matches between these counties. He had also caused a number of spectators to revise their plans for Saturday afternoon as they opted to stay at the cricket in preference to trips to Tesco or journeys to the planet Ikea. You could see their point. Talk about something for nothing.Until Wheater departed there was still some hope of a really spectacular switch of fortunes in a game which Lancashire had dominated for three days. He and Coles had put the hammer down on an attack which was lacking Lancashire skipper Glen Chapple over the course of a morning session in which 38 overs yielded 145 runs. Wheater reached his hundred in 182 balls having hit 19 fours, many of them being the shots of a pedigree batsman; a few moments later Coles’s comparative restraint had helped him stroke a 101-ball fifty.After the game Chapple talked about his team failing to keep their eye on the ball on Saturday and you could see his point: it’s tough to keep a cricket ball in view when it is disappearing so rapidly in all directions. None of the Lancashire bowlers performed dreadfully but by the same token none of them looked like taking a wicket apart from Kerrigan who apparently had Coles caught off the glove when he was 15 only for Neil Bainton to turn down the appeal.Ultimately Coles departed two balls after Wheater when his rather uncharacteristic cross-batted swipe at Luis Reece resulted in the loss of his middle stump when he had made 68. Even then, though, the vaudeville was not over for Lancashire could not celebrate the win that takes them 33 points clear of Northamptonshire at the top of the Division Two table until James Tomlinson and 16-year-old debutant Brad Taylor had added 53 runs for the last wicket in a mere seven overs.Only when Taylor was stumped off Kerrigan for 20 could Chapple’s players savour their win and by then there must have been a measure of anti-climax moderating their joy. If Lancashire bowl as anaemically and inaccurately in Division One, there are a few tough days ahead of them next summer.Kerrigan, however, will not be worrying too much about that; he took seven wickets in this match and seemed to have got something of his old feel and rhythm back when he bowled on Saturday. Life must seem sweeter and less fraught to him than it did at The Oval just seven days ago.At the conclusion of the game Hampshire’s top order batsmen were surely regretting the spinelessness which had seen them start the fourth day on 133 for 7 with, we all thought, little for which to play. For their part, Lancashire’s players will have been pleased, relieved and dissatisfied in equal measure.But neither team’s feelings nor their desire to get home on a busy Saturday prevented them thanking the Southport and Birkdale club for staging this match with such professionalism and panache. If all outgrounds did things as well as this, counties might visit them more frequently and the Test grounds might be rather emptier than they are already when four-day games attract a couple of hundred paying customers who rattle around mighty stands like midgets lost in a labyrinth.

ScorecardChris Wood impressed with the ball and removed Ricky Ponting•Getty Images

Unbeaten Hampshire returned to the top of the South Group in the Friends Life t20 following a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Surrey at The Oval.Sean Ervine, who made a run-a-ball 28, and Liam Dawson, who finished with an unbeaten 24, added 37 in seven overs to see Hampshire home with 10 deliveries to spare after Surrey could only muster 126 for 6.Having elected to bat first, Surrey lost all momentum after Jason Roy was bowled for 22 in the third over. Roy pulled the second ball of the match for six and two overs later the 22-year-old reverse-swept another maximum before Dimitri Mascarenhas broke through his defences.The hosts then lost three wickets in the space of nine balls, starting when Ricky Ponting, who was awarded his Surrey cap before the start of play, chipped Chris Wood to extra cover.Mascarenhas struck again when Steven Davies fell to a leading edge, which looped to mid-off, and Azhar Mahmood was caught in front of slip by Michael Bates off Wood to make it 44 for 4.Gary Wilson and Zafar Ansari added 47 in 10 overs before Wood, looking directly into the sun, pulled off a superb catch at deep backward square leg off Danny Briggs to see the back of Ansari for 29. Surrey’s misery continued when Wilson holed out to long-on for 28 in the following over.Hampshire conceded their first boundary in 75 deliveries when Kevin O’Brien, making his Surrey debut, pulled Wood for four in the 18th over. O’Brien, who hit an unbeaten 16, pulled the last ball of the Surrey innings for six to leave Hampshire needing just 127 to maintain their unbeaten run in this season’s competition.In reply, Hampshire lost James Vince in the fourth over when he was bowled for 14, playing across the line against Mahmood. Michael Carberry pulled Jade Dernbach over deep fine-leg for six before cutting the next delivery for four.Mahmood, who bowled straight through his four-over allocation prior to hobbling off with an injury, picked up the wicket of Carberry for 25 when O’Brien held on to a swirling catch at long-off.Jimmy Adams, who top scored on a low-key night with 30, was beaten by Ansari’s direct hit from deep midwicket, though not before Ervine had pulled Zander de Bruyn for six in the 11th over.Without needing to take any risks, Ervine and Dawson hit just one further boundary apiece as they reeled in the modest target.

Match facts

Thursday, July 18, Lord’s
Start time 1100 (1000 GMT)First day: 1115 (1015 GMT)Will they, won’t they? England have a decision to make over Steven Finn’s place in the side•Getty Images

Big Picture

Anyone arriving back from a remote location having missed the first Test will look at the series score and shrug their shoulders in acceptance of a thoroughly anticipated result. That might have been the best way to watch the first Test because it produced an outrageously tense match. Public Health England are considering issuing a warning in light of leaping blood pressure caused by just over four days at Trent Bridge.It need not have been the case. Twice in the match, Australia were one ball away from oblivion. At 117 for 9 their worst fears about their batting order had been realised and had Ashton Agar been given out stumped when on just 6, a first-innings deficit of 85 would surely have resulted in a crushing defeat. That almost ensued anyway, when Australia were nine down with another 80 needed to win.England can take great confidence from the fact that they largely outplayed Australia and, in Jimmy Anderson and Ian Bell, produced the two outstanding performances of the match, something Michael Clarke admitted meant England deserved to win. Australia scrapped away with Peter Siddle and Brad Haddin and looked to be getting on top with Agar and Mitchell Starc but it transpired that they didn’t have enough quality to beat England. In that regard, the first Test went to form.England now have the chance to take a giant stride towards retaining the Investec Ashes on a ground where they have become very successful in recent years with only one Test defeat – to South Africa last summer – since the 2005 Ashes. Australia will hope to rekindle their love affair with the Home of Cricket, having enjoyed a 71-year unbeaten run there from 1938 to 2009. But only four of their squad have previously played a Test at Lord’s.Their task could be very difficult because they look short of runs and plenty will be needed during a very hot week in London. They do have potential to work with – the opening partnership of Shane Watson and Chris Rogers showed promise, Steve Smith appeared in decent touch, Phillip Hughes looked a different player against Graeme Swann and the lower-order demonstrated how dangerous they can be – but they must produce for Australia to be competitive. It will be interesting to see how they come out of Trent Bridge; buoyed at having run England so close or nervous with the knowledge that the top six averaged 28.63 per wicket?England will know that second fact but must ensure the make-up of their bowling attack is correct. Steven Finn proved somewhat of a liability at Trent Bridge, particularly as his second-innings spell sparked a counterattack. Tim Bresnan’s greater control – an economy rate of 2.96 to Finn’s 3.65 – and ability with reverse-swing may have served them better and he is the main option to replace Finn at Lord’s. But Finn loves Lord’s, his home ground. Can England leave out a bowler who has, excluding Bangladesh, taken 20 wickets at 20.60 in four Tests at Lord’s?

Form guide

England: WWWDD
Australia: LLLLL

Players to watch

Kevin Pietersen loves Lord’s. The grandeur of the place sits well with his character. It is also a jolly good pitch to bat on and Pietersen averages 61.40 in 14 Lord’s Tests. He’s played majestically at HQ – taking on Australia during his debut in 2005, belting South Africa for 152 in 2008 and producing one of his best innings, 202 not out against India in 2011. Pietersen was dropped from last year’s grand week at Lord’s and should be purring at the chance to reclaim the stage. He showed some form in a second-innings fifty at Trent Bridge. Australia beware.The closest Australia have to Pietersen is Michael Clarke, albeit with less of a swagger but nevertheless a man for the big occasion. Clarke has to lead from the front in a manner that Alastair Cook managed for England in India – prove that runs can be scored. Australia need to know that England can be resisted and Clarke needs to be the man. He is the sole survivor from 2005, where he made a second-innings 91 to take the game away from England, and made 136 in 2009, albeit in a second innings where Australia were always sliding to defeat.

Team news

England’s only decision is whether Finn keeps his place. His record at Lord’s is excellent, and England like different style bowlers and Finn is the only tall quick in their squad. But Alastair Cook has said England are not afraid to change a winning side and Tim Bresnan or Graham Onions could replace Finn.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Joe Root, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Steven Finn, 11 James Anderson.Australia have two main questions to ask. Do they retain Ed Cowan, who looked out of touch at Trent Bridge? And do they tinker with the bowling attack? The likely scenario is that Cowan will make way for Usman Khawaja, while Ryan Harris appears set to replace Mitchell Starc.Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Chris Rogers, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Steve Smith, 6 Phillip Hughes, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Ashton Agar, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 James Pattinson.

Pitch and conditions

There’s a heatwave in the UK and the temperature will remind the Australians of home. It’s also likely to produce another very dry pitch but expect more pace and bounce than Trent Bridge. Lord’s tracks have often got flatter as the match has progressed.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have a superb record at Lord’s with 16 victories and six defeats in 36 Tests, including victories over South Africa in 1912 and Pakistan in 2010.
• From 1953 to 1985 there were only three results in 10 Tests between England and Australia, including the Centenary Test of 1980.
• England are aiming to win their 50th Test at Lord’s. They have lost 28 and drawn 47 at HQ.
• Matt Prior has 37 Test dismissals at Lord’s, the joint-most with Alec Stewart and Godfrey Evans.
• Steve Waugh, who scored 231 runs in four Tests at Lord’s, including a century, will ring the bell before the start of play on day one.

Quotes

“Obviously you try and be as loyal as you can to your players but on the other hand you always pick a side you think can win the Test.”
“Darren has been outstanding in galvanising us and at bringing up together and we showed everyone that at Nottingham.”