(Reuters) – Australia’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc could be in contention to return to the bowling attack for the second Ashes test at Lord’s but captain Pat Cummins said he may delay a decision on the final lineup closer to today’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, where Australia won by two wickets.
Cummins said the weather may also come into play, with heavy clouds forecast for Wednesday potentially altering the surface, as he faces a selection headache with Starc, Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood vying for two slots in the pace attack.
“I think it’s a factor, well see,” Cummins told reporters yesterday. “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 in the first test as Australia’s gritty and often cautious performance trumped England’s audacious ‘Bazball’ flamboyance.
The skipper said Australia will stick to their approach and aim to wear out England before the third test at Headingley, only four days after the scheduled end of the second.
“Our number one goal when we go out there is to score runs and if it takes longer, it doesn’t matter to us,” Cummins said, adding that he was not overly concerned about bowlers’ economy rates as long as they were claiming wickets.
“You could probably argue we weren’t at our best either last week, but we’ve been really successful over the last two years by just playing our own way … I thought we managed our tempos really well last week.
“So I think you’d look at conditions, and who do you think is going to create the most opportunities. Obviously, everyone’s not hoping to go for six runs an over, but if it does (happen), it’s not the end of the world.”
