Mitchell Starc was named in place of James Pattinson as Australia announced a 12-member squad for the second Ashes Test slated to be played at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Pattinson, who returned with figures of 2/111 in the Edgbaston Test, was left out for the Lord’s Test with Starc fully recovered and ready to make his Test return for the first time in almost seven months. Starc finished as the highest wicket-taker in CWC 2019 with 27 wickets in 10 matches. The second Test at Lord’s is scheduled to begin on August 14, 2019 (Wednesday).  England vs Australia Dream11 Prediction for Ashes 2019: Tips to Pick Best All-Rounders, Batsmen, Bowlers & Wicket-Keepers for ENG vs AUS 2nd Test Match.

The 29-year-old sat out of the opening Test in Birmingham as he was recovering from a knee injury. Australia went on to win the game by a massive 251 runs with Pattinson scoring a vital 47 not-out in the second innings that helped the visitors set a near-impossible target for England to chase. But with Pattinson not returning his place one of either Starc or Hazlewood could make their return to the Test team.

Australia Announce 12-Man Squad For Lord's Test

The defending Ashes champions made no other change as they aim to retain the Ashes with a series victory on Ashes soil. “I like it when great players miss out," Australia head coach Justin Langer was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au when asked about Warner's performance in the opening game.

“It means statistically they'll probably get some pretty soon, so hopefully it's this Test. They're great players for a reason and he's got that look in his eye," Langer added hoping for Warner to come good at Lord’s. Meanwhile, Steve Smith made a sensational return to the Aussie Test team by hitting centuries in successive innings in his first game ever since the controversial Ball-tampering scandal. The trio of Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned for a year for master-minding the sandpaper gate in Cape Town in 2017.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 13, 2019 05:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).