Related items

• Moeen Ali’s return makes England stronger – Graeme Swann

  Graeme Swann believes Moeen Ali’s dramatic return to Test cricket as emergency cover for Jack Leach will strengthen England’s challenge for the Ashes.

  Moeen is poised to play his first red-ball cricket in almost two years after he was persuaded to replace first-choice spinner Leach, who has been ruled out of the series by a stress fracture to his spine.

  Moeen turns 36 during the first Test at Edgbaston and brings vast experience with 64 Test caps, 195 wickets and five centuries.

  Rather than view the upheaval caused to the bowling plans as a setback, Swann believes his successor as England’s front line spinner will improve Ben Stokes’ side through his greater threat with the bat.

  “Mo is a good bowler,” said Swann, who was speaking at the launch of Net Gains, a new joint campaign between IG and the ECB that will raise funds to build public cricket nets across the country.

  “I’m sure he’s just been given a licence to run up and bowl and spin it as hard as he can and bat the way he can.

  “I think it makes us stronger which is hard on Jack because he was doing a good job with the ball, but it extends the batting which is important. And with all their (Australia’s) lefties, we’ve got an off-spinner bowling at them.

  “I’m glad to see Mo back. He’s still brilliant. I watched him in the IPL – he’s mercurial, sure, but he’s still a brilliant talent.

  “The very fact that Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are in charge makes it easy for him. They’ve said ‘you come in and all your positive attributes are what we’re after’.

  “Having his tyres pumped up by them and coming into a dressing room with guys he has grown up with who play in the same free spirited way will suit him down to the ground and that is why he’s come back.

  “Jack holds an end up and does a job. There are still areas I think he could be better and he does things differently to how I did, but he’s playing a role in a team. He’s a loss but you’ve got Mo who extends the batting.”

  Rookies Rehan Ahmed, Will Jacks and Jack Carson were potential replacements for Leach and, while Swann supports Moeen’s return, he admits it exposes the lack of depth in English spin bowling.

  “It is concerning because we haven’t got 10 candidates lining up and banging on the door,” said Swann, who played 60 Tests from 2008 to 2013.

  “It says what it says which is that we don’t have good enough spinners in the country ready to go.

  “We have spinners coming through – I’ve been with the Lions and there are some talented lads there who I don’t think personally are quite ready for Test cricket but they might be if they played because it is so much in the head.

  “It could ruin a career before it has even started so I think Mo is a safe and exciting option.”

  Swann insists England must not allow themselves to be bullied by Australia over the five Tests.

  “Australians are like dogs in a fight. They want you to be submissive, they always have done,” he said.

  “Teams who stand up to them and go toe-to-toe stand a much better chance of winning the fight against them.”

• Travis Head hits quickfire 60 to give Australia momentum in WTC against India

  Travis Head cracked a rapid-fire half-century as Australia built a solid foundation on the opening day of the World Test Championship final against India.

  Head arrived at the crease with his side at 76 for three and bossed an unbroken stand of 94 with Steve Smith, as Australia reached tea on 170 without further loss.

  Head was at his counter-punching best, reeling off 10 boundaries in 75 balls to push the pressure back on to the Indian attack.

  His lively knock altered the momentum of the afternoon session, which could have turned in India’s favour after Mohammed Shami uprooted Marnus Labuschagne’s off stump shortly after the lunch break.

  It was a second well-timed breakthrough, after David Warner’s battling 43 came to end in timid fashion late in the morning’s play, Shardul Thakur brushing his glove with a short ball speared down the leg side.

  India had chosen to field after winning the toss and it looked a sound decision during an awkward first hour for the Australian batters.

  Mohammed Shami kept Warner honest during a fine opening burst with the new ball, working over the left-hander from round the wicket in a way that will not have escaped the attention of his old nemesis Stuart Broad.

  He survived the examination, with a couple of fortuitous moments along the way, but Usman Khawaja banked a 10-ball duck when he nicked the quicker Mohammed Siraj to Srikar Bharat.

  There was an early scare for Labuschagne, who dramatically dropped the bat in pain when Umesh Yadav rapped him on the left thumb with a sharp, lifting delivery.

  England fans would be forgiven for having the Ashes on their minds as Labuschagne received treatment and popped a couple of painkillers, but he resumed his innings and even wore another blow to the hand to reach lunch on 26 not out.

  Warner, having survived his initial trial, began to open up and took a particular liking to Yadav, at one stage lashing the seamer for four boundaries in a single over.

  The 36-year-old, who recently announced his plans to retire in the new year, was growing in confidence and will have been annoyed at the manner of his dismissal, well caught by the diving Bharat after getting into a poor position against a modest ball from Thakur.

  Labuschagne, who had survived a couple of close lbw appeals, did not kick on in the afternoon – emphatically missing one that was tossed up full and thumped halfway up his off stump.

  Steve Smith settled in for a low-key stay, grinding out 33 off 102 balls, leaving the stage for Head (60no) to throw the bat confidently and swing the pendulum in Australia’s favour.

• England captain Heather Knight sets sights on landmark summer of Ashes cricket

  Heather Knight is setting her sights on a landmark summer of Ashes cricket, after joining fellow England captain Ben Stokes on a Tower Bridge projection.

  Giant images of Knight and Stokes were beamed on to one of London’s best known sights on Wednesday as part of the countdown to the men’s and women’s series against Australia.

  Stars of the Lionesses football team adorned famous locations including the Royal Opera House, the National Portrait Gallery and Battersea Power Station ahead of last year’s European Championship and Knight is hoping to echo their triumphant performance.

  Tickets sales for the women’s series have already passed a combined 70,000 – doubling the overall attendance in 2019 and guaranteeing record attendances – and an England win over a formidable Australia side could go a long way to lifting the status of Knight’s side to new levels.

  “I remember seeing the Lionesses on London landmarks ahead of the Euros last year and thinking that was very, very cool – so it’s really nice to be a part of it this summer. It’s not every day of the week that you see yourself projected on to Tower Bridge!” Knight told the PA news agency.

  “When I made my England debut in India in 2010 it was in front of one man and his dog. I was a student and I literally had to tell my tutor I’d be gone for a month. It’s changed so much since then.

  “The girls who are making their England debuts now are in a totally different world and this summer we’re looking at grounds like Edgbaston, The Kia Oval and Lord’s and some of them could be nearly full.

  “Like Leah Williamson and her team last year, it would be nice to think that we’ve brought a few people into the game this summer.

  “I’m really proud of how far cricket has come. We’ve got more distance to go but this is a huge year for women’s cricket and hopefully the scale of the Women’s Ashes will help inspire a few more girls to come and watch us.

  “Like the Lionesses last summer, I think we have the chance to bring a lot of people with us.”