Root expects England to come back strong at Lord’s in 2nd Ashes Test
LONDON (Reuters) – England captain Joe Root expects his side to fight back hard against Australia when the second Ashes Test finally gets under way at Lord’s, with paceman Jofra Archer raring to make the most of his debut.
Australia leads the five-match series 1-0 after its emphatic 251-run win two weeks ago at Edgbaston.
The first day of was scheduled for Wednesday before being rained out without a ball being bowled.
Play had finally looked set to get started after a morning of wet weather, with the umpires calling for a 3:30 p.m. start during a dry spell.
The sides briefly came out, and the England staff had time to present Archer with his debut Test cap. But the rain began to fall again minutes later, before the captains came out for the coin toss.
The sides will now aim to start the match on Thursday, with an extra half-hour of play allowed on each of the remaining four days to make up for the day lost.
“We’re in English conditions, we really back ourselves to perform and to come back strong after last week,” Root told reporters.
“We’ve proven that we do that time and time again after we’ve been defeated, especially at home, and I’m expecting a big response from the boys.”
Archer said this week, after being named in England’s 12-man squad, that he had fully recovered from a side strain.
The Barbados-born pace bowler made a big impact at the World Cup as England’s leading wicket-taker, bowling also the dramatic Super Over against New Zealand at Lord’s which sealed the title for the hosts.
“He’s certainly very confident and that’s great to see in a young guy – as he should be off the back of a brilliant World Cup,” said Root.
“As he’s made it very clear, red-ball cricket is his preferred format, so again it’s very exciting to see him at the start of a journey.
“When he gets his chance, he’ll be desperate to prove to everyone that he is as good as he says he is.”
The defeat at Edgbaston marked the first time since 2005 that England has made a losing start to a home Ashes series and another loss at Lord’s would deal a huge blow to its chances of regaining the urn.
England has not lost consecutive home Tests against any side in 11 years.
“Last week will have hurt everyone and everyone will be desperate to win this week,” said Root. I expect nothing less.”
All-rounder Moeen Ali has been dropped for the Test after making only four runs in two innings at Edgbaston, with slow left-armer Jack Leach expected to take over England’s spin bowling duties at Lord’s.
Meanwhile, Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will play in the second Test, head coach Justin Langer said on Wednesday, edging out teammate Mitchell Starc as the side pick from a host of world-class pacemen.
Australia opted to rest Hazlewood throughout the recently finished Cricket World Cup, where Starc was the tournament’s top wicket-taker, and for the first Test of the Ashes.
But Hazlewood, who has played 44 tests and taken 164 wickets at an average of 27.14 runs, had been seen as the likeliest replacement for the dropped James Pattinson in the second Test, based on his performances in a tour match against Worcestershire last week.
“He’s got an outstanding record that he’s built up over the last few months. He missed out on the World Cup because we felt that he hadn’t played much cricket, [but] we know that he’s an outstanding bowler,” Langer told reporters at Lord’s.
“We know that against England he should execute his plans really well. He’s bowled well the last couple of weeks, and we hope that he does a good job for us in this Test match.”
Langer said Pattinson had been a little stiff after the first Test – his first Test in three-and-ahalf years after back surgery – but was working back to fitness for the third Test at the Headingley ground in Leeds starting on August 22.