Jofra Archer, so good at Lord’s the other night, is overdue for a breather, so Olly Stone comes in to join Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts.
For Australia, Alex Carey and Sean Abbott join Mitch Marsh on the sidelines. Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly come in, so Hardie will be the third seamer, behind Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and Connolly will join Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head in the queue to fiddle through a few overs.
Australia win the toss and bowl
A grey morning, with rain around later: no captain would bat first today. It’s a big toss to win … and the Australian captain calls right. Hang on, he looks familiar – it’s Steve Smith!
It’s also the last day of the County Championship. Do keep a window open on your browser for Tanya Aldred, the queen of the county scene. Start at the bottom with a post so succinct that it may one day be held up as a model at preamble school.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the last stop on a long and winding road. It’s the end of the home international cricket season, the final act of the drama, the fifth set of the match. It could be anything from a cliffhanger to a damp squib.
England have to beat Australia for the third time in a week to complete a barnstorming comeback. Australia have to remember how experienced they are and put these upstarts in their place. And both sides have to beat the weather, which is looking dodgy all day and downright dismal from mid-afternoon.
The captains should really meet in the middle now and agree to play a T25. But that might require a better relationship between cricket and common sense.
Cricket Australia (CA) has handed former Sri Lankan cricketer Dulip Samaraweera a 10-year ban following allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a second