After much speculation about Moeen Ali’s finger injury and whether he would be fit for the second Test, he has finally been left out of the XI. Worcestershire seamer Josh Tongue, who made his Test debut against Ireland last month, took his place.

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This means England are going in with an all-out seam bowling attack with no frontline spinner in the XI. Leaving out Moeen will also weaken their batting.

Eighteen-year-old wrist spinner Rehan Ahmed was called up to the England squad as cover for Moeen, but he did not find a place in the XI.

While it is expected that some of the grass on the Lord’s surface will be trimmed before the Test, the latest pictures of the pitch suggest that spinners will probably not have much of a role to play. That has perhaps played a part in England’s selection.

[caption id=”attachment_303094″ align=”alignnone” width=”1024″] LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 26: Steve Smith of Australia inspects the pitch during an Australia Training Session at Lord’s Cricket Ground on June 26, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)[/caption]

Apart from Tongue replacing Moeen, there are no other changes to the England lineup for the second Ashes Test match from the one that took the field at Edgbaston last week.

After having a relatively poor game by his standards, James Anderson complained about how pitches like the one at Edgbaston “would be the end of me.” However, he has retained his place in the XI for the Lord’s Test, a ground where he has taken more than 100 Test wickets.

Ollie Robinson and Stuart Broad also retained their places as England opted to leave out Mark Wood for a second consecutive Test match, as well as Chris Woakes, despite his incredible record at the venue.

The batting department looks exactly the same, with Jonny Bairstow set to continue at No.7 and Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Ollie Pope making up the top three. The rest of the middle-order picks itself.

England’s XI for the second Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, James Anderson.