The English cricket board (ECB) announced on Tuesday that injured spinner Moeen Ali will be replaced by seamer Josh Tongue in England’s side for the second Ashes test against Australia at Lord’s, which will begin on Wednesday.
Tongue will take the place of injured spinner Moeen Ali.
Ali was unable to bowl more than 14 overs in the second innings of the first match at Edgbaston, which Australia won by two wickets. The match was won by Australia. Off-spinner Ali was nursing a finger injury.
Ben Stokes, the captain of England, has decided to go with an all-seam bowling assault. The 25-year-old Tongue, who made his Test debut against Ireland at Lord’s earlier this month and claimed five wickets for 66 runs in the second innings of that match, is the only player who has been changed from the squad that was defeated in the first Ashes Test.
Stokes said to the press that the decision to choose four speed bowlers was made because the ground at Lord’s was in such poor condition.
“I think we needed to get to Lord’s first and see what conditions we were faced with,” Stokes said. “It was imperative that we do so.” “As far as we can tell, the wicket is covered in a fair amount of grass and has a somewhat shady appearance. Historically speaking, Lord’s has been known to provide more for the sailors.
Tongue was chosen over Mark Wood, who was generally expected to be selected for the second test, while Joe Root is anticipated to continue to serve in the capacity of auxiliary spinner.
“We wanted to play Mark Wood,” stated Stokes. “We were able to.” “We felt that he could definitely start the game, but with conversations we felt that the extra week would give him a better chance to play a full part from (the third Test at) Leeds onward,” the team said.
“We brought Tonguey into the team as a like-for-like replacement… so I’m looking forward to seeing him continue on the fantastic start he had against Ireland here.”
“Being able to use him in the fourth seamer role is something that I’m looking forward to, and I think he’s really looking forward to the challenge as well,” I said. “I think he’s really looking forward to the challenge.”
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, and James Anderson were selected to play for England in their starting XI. Ben Stokes served as the team’s captain.