• England v Australia, 2nd Investec Test, Lord's, 1st day

Cowan, Starc dropped for Lord's

Daniel Brettig at Lord's
July 18, 2013
Ed Cowan had a poor Test at Trent Bridge, managing only 14 runs in two innings © Getty Images
Enlarge

Ed Cowan and Mitchell Starc have been dropped for Usman Khawaja and Ryan Harris in Australia's XI for the second Ashes Test at Lord's.

The changes were not unexpected, after Cowan struggled through arguably the poorest of his 18 Tests at Trent Bridge in the unfamiliar No. 3 position and Starc's form oscillated throughout.

Khawaja's inclusion provided him with the first chance to show his improvement as a batsman since he was left out of the Test team in late 2011, serving consistently as a reserve since.

Harris was always a likely call-up for Lord's, as his consistent line, swing and skiddy pace appear ideally suited to the ground and its idiosyncratic slope. Importantly, Harris has played twice at the venue before, and as a senior bowler his temperament will be useful for the tourists as they seek to reverse a 1-0 series deficit.

While Starc can be expected to come back into the team at a later date, Cowan may have played his last Test. He had taken part in 18 consecutive matches since his debut on Boxing Day 2011, but a record of only one century and an average of 31.28 always left him vulnerable to omission.

Australia: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Chris Rogers, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Steve Smith, 6 Phillip Hughes, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Ashton Agar, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Ryan Harris

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices