Australia captain Pat Cummins has sent a warning to England by predicting a “big week” from star batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne at Lord’s.
Smith and Labuschagne suffered rare failures in both innings of the Ashes opener at Edgbaston, but it failed to stop the tourists securing a thrilling two-wicket win to move 1-0 up in the series.
The meticulous duo – who both average over 55 in Tests – spent their designated days off on Saturday in the nets at the home of cricket for a number of hours in readiness for the second Test.
Lord’s is a significance ground for the Australian pair given Smith made his Test debut here in 2010 against Pakistan and four years ago he had to be withdrawn from the last Ashes match at the venue with concussion after being hit by a vicious Jofra Archer bouncer.
Labuschagne stepped in as a concussion substitute for Smith on that occasion, despite the stop-start nature of his red-ball career with Australia to that point, and after hitting 59 has not looked back.
Cummins, who will name his XI on Wednesday morning, said: “I don’t think we played the complete game last week by a long shot.
“I think that is one of the most pleasing things that we weren’t at our best but still managed to get over the line. That is not always going to be the case.
“History would suggest Marnus and Smithy rarely miss out, so I am expecting a big week from them.”
While Cummins did not name his final team, he did reveal Mitchell Starc’s potential inclusion is the only decision left to make, with Scott Boland the most likely candidate to miss out.
“I have got a 12 so the same team as last week plus Starcy comes in. We will have another look at the wicket and make a final decision tomorrow,” the Australian captain revealed.
A green tinge to the wicket at Lord’s saw England go with an all-seam attack in their efforts to level the series in London.
Worcestershire seamer Josh Tongue was preferred in place of Moeen Ali, who had been an injury doubt following trouble with a burst blister on his right index finger in the series opener at Edgbaston.
While Moeen’s injury has recovered well, England will rely on the part-time off-breaks of Joe Root at the home of cricket if they want some variation to their four seamers.
Australia will make no such choice and their frontline spinner Nathan Lyon is preparing to play the 100th consecutive Test of his career with another milestone of reaching 500 wickets also in sight.
Cummins added: “I think it’s a testament not only to how good Nathan is in terms of longevity and fitness and form, but to be able to play 100 Tests means you are getting picked in all conditions.
“I know at the start of his career you talked about four quicks at the Gabba, but he is just so valuable to our team I couldn’t imagine a side without Nath in there.
“I’ve seen they have gone with four quicks, which is probably as we expected after seeing Moeen’s injury last week, but I feel really lucky we’ve got Nathan.
“Hundredth consecutive Test match, (potentially) 500 Test wickets, it’s incredible all the milestones he keeps ticking off. This is a really special place in cricket but for Australia as well. We’ve had some success at this ground in recent years so yeah, a big one for the memory bank.”
Meanwhile, Cummins offered his own view on the discrimination storm engulfing cricket in England after a report published on Tuesday laid bare the issues the sport in this country has with racism, sexism and elitism.
The Australian skipper had not yet had chance to read the detailed report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket but made reference to the changes in style of his own team in comparison to historic preconceptions of how an Australian XI must play.
“I’ve been playing for 12 years now and I think we are all a little bit probably better than we were 12 years ago,” Cummins reflected.
“I think it’s just a continual learning process and something we try to be really open-minded about.
“I love that we’ve got some real diversity in our team. I think it’s a real strength of ours, really celebrating everyone’s individuality.
“I just hope that anyone who walks into our dressing room or Australian cricket, whether they are playing or at a ground, just feels like they are welcome, appreciated and respected.”
Greaves hits unbeaten ton as West Indies dominate Bangladesh
Justin Greaves hit an unbeaten century – his first red-ball ton – as West Indies ended day two of their first Test against Bangladesh with a commanding 410-run lead.
Greaves resumed alongside Joshua Da Silva with West Indies 250-5 after day one in Antigua, eventually slamming 115 runs off 206 balls faced as the hosts established a dominant position.
His steady knock ensured the Windies recovered nicely after slipping to 261-7 early on, while Kemar Roach hit a career-best 47 through four defiant hours at the crease.
Hasan Mahmud took three day-two wickets for Bangladesh, including that of Roach, as his short delivery angled in to clip the top of middle stump.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite declared to put Bangladesh at the crease late on, and there was no respite for the tourists against the hosts' four-man pace attack.
Zakir Hasan fell to Jayden Seales for 15, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy edged Alzarri Joseph for five shortly after being dropped, leaving Bangladesh 40-2 at stumps.
Data Debrief: Career-best for Greaves
Greaves' unbeaten 115 marked his first century in Test cricket, surpassing his previous best knock – a score of 33 versus Australia in January – by some distance.
His strike rate of 55.83 on Saturday, while steady, also bettered his effort of 55.00 during that match in Brisbane. Thanks to his efforts, Bangladesh have a real mountain to climb on day three.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
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