2nd Investec Test: England vs Australia at Lord's

England name unchanged squad for second Ashes Test at Lord’s
England won the opening Test inside four days having bowled Australia out for 242.
By: Reuters | London | July 12, 2015 5:43 pm

Ashes, Ashes England, England Australia, Australia England Ashes, Ashes England Australia, EngvAus, AusvEng, Cricket News, Cricket A young and aggressive England outplayed the Aussies in 4 days to take a 1-0 lead in 5-match series. (Source: AP)

England have named an unchanged 13-man squad for the second Ashes Test at Lord’s next week having thrashed Australia by 169 runs in Cardiff on Saturday to take a 1-0 series lead, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Sunday.
England won the opening Test inside four days having bowled Australia out for 242, who were chasing a daunting 412 to win, and banished memories of the humiliating 5-0 Ashes whitewash in the previous series down under.

Joe Root scored a masterful hundred in the first innings and a fifty in the second while there were also pressure-easing half centuries from Gary Ballance and Ian Bell.

Moeen Ali also scored a swashbuckling 77 and took five wickets, as did Stuart Broad, in the match as part of an England bowling attack that subdued Australia’s dangerous batting lineup.
The opening Test also marked the first match in charge for new England head coach Trevor Bayliss, 52, who was appointed Peter Moores’ successor in May.

The Australian said he had seen signs during the drawn Test series against New Zealand in May and June that England were poised to do something special but warned against complacency ahead of the Lord’s Test.
“The players have been heading in the right direction over the last series with New Zealand and I was lucky to come in at this time,” Bayliss told reporters.
“They are interested in playing good, attacking cricket. Any win is a fantastic feeling.

“The boys are aware that when you beat Australia, the next match is going to be even tougher because they will come back hard.
“There is a long way to go in this series. To win we will have to play some very good cricket.”
Should the same 11 take the field at the home of cricket on Thursday, Middlesex pace bowler Steven Finn, without a Test cap since July 2013, and Yorkshire’s uncapped spinner Adil Rashid will miss out.
The third Test begins at Edgbaston on July 29, the fourth at Trent Bridge on Aug. 6 and the final match of the series at the Oval on Aug. 20.

Squad: Alastair Cook (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Adam Lyth, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood (Reporting By Tom Hayward; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)

Speaking ahead of the second Test starting on Thursday at Lord's, Smith said he and his team-mates just have to be smart in the way they play the Worcestershire spinner.

Smith told Sky Sports: "It's just about playing a little bit smarter. I was pre-empting coming down the wicket a little bit and he probably saw that and dragged it down leg side and got me into a bit of a tangle.

"I've got my plans for him in the series. I'm not going to shy away from attacking him. That's the best way to get their quicks back on a little bit sooner and hopefully tire them out, so I'm still going to go after him quite a bit."

Smiff: YOU be smart and ask the Selectors to sit PuP .... ... 

great idea.

From ZERO to HERO

C'est La Vie , eh Calypso ?? 

Cook has generally been considered a fine batsman but a limited captain, in the "lead by example" mould,

but in Cardiff he shuffled his attack and positioned his field masterfully. Whether it was the placement of two short midwickets,

the decision to recall Moeen Ali for an over before lunch on day four ,

or the gamble to start with Stuart Broad on day three with the new ball just 10 overs away, :

almost everything Cook tried came off. 

"People like Alastair and Ian Bell have scored plenty of Test hundreds.

My advice to them would be to go out and bat like you always have done.

Those two guys are class players and can change their game to suit any situation.

The rest of the guys can bat around them."

Coach Bayliss .

anand , IF Oz dont make some changes , they will lose this series.

On second thought I have been looking at my boy Watto  :-[

dillinger ,  Bell has a huge support base 

Based on those comments, it certainly would appear that Bell's place in the team is all be guaranteed for the rest of the Ashes.