Nasser Hussain believes England should replace Moeen Ali with either speedster Mark Wood or Chris Woakes, who has had fantastic success at Lord’s thus far and is also a useful hitter later down the order. The second Ashes Test between Australia and England begins at Lord’s on Wednesday. England ended up on the losing side in the first Test match at Edgbaston and lost narrowly by two wickets. If England are willing to rely on Joe Root’s effective part-time spin, speedster Mark Wood and Lord’s specialist Chris Woakes appear to be the likely replacements for Moeen.
Hussain was quick to select Wood as the next man up, and the express-pace bowler has a solid record against Australia, having been England’s main wicket-taker in their previous meeting in 2021/22.
Woakes last played a Test in March 2022, so he has missed England’s comeback under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, but he has a remarkable record in five Lord’s Tests.
At the venue, the 34-year-old all-rounder has 27 wickets at an average of 11.33, while also hitting 306 runs at an average of 61.2.
“He (Wood) would probably have to come in for Moeen and use Joe Root as your spinner, so go down the four seamers route, or Chris Woakes. Chris Woakes has got a fantastic record at Lord’s, and that would increase the batting as well, another all-rounder in there. So either Woakes or Wood for Moeen Ali,” ICC quoted Hussain as saying.
England head into the Lord’s Test trailing 1-0 after their dramatic two-wicket loss in the Ashes series opener.
The hosts have enjoyed a stunning 12 months with 11 victories in their 14 Tests under Stokes’ leadership, yet their captain raised eyebrows after the first Ashes Test when stating that “we are not a results-driven team.”
“It was just a brilliant week at Edgbaston, it really was. All the hype and all the chat and the build-up of ‘Bazball’ by fans and media. They lived up to it right from the very first ball when Zak Crawley drove on the up off Pat Cummins and it thundered to the boundary. That’s how they’ve got to where they are now. They’ve tried to take the result out of the equation and play a positive brand and style of cricket – they’re trying to get that into the minds of their players,” Hussain said.
“Of course they are results driven, they want to win. But what they’re trying to do is alleviate the pressure from their team. If they keep going ‘we must win, we must win’, you’re putting pressure and taking away everything that has been done in the last year or so,” said the former England skipper.
“They definitely want to win, all England fans want them to win, but they also want them to play attractive cricket,” he added.
England squad for Lord’s Test:Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.
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