Brisbane [Australia], December 4 : England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat in the second Ashes Test against Australia, which is a day/night, pink-ball contest in Brisbane on Thursday.
Australia are heading into the fixture with a commanding victory by eight wickets in the series opener. The match finished in just two days with a brilliant hundred from Travis Head, and a 10-wicket haul from Mitchell Starc squared off the game for the Aussies.
"We are gonna have a bat. Different conditions here. You give yourself the best chance when you bat. We've had extra time to build up for this game. The guys are raring and ready to go. I'm not too sure (how the wicket is going to play), to be honest. A lot of people look at the wickets and say it's going to this, it's going to do that, but you never really know till you get out there. We have an opportunity to put some runs on the board first up. (Biggest week of his captaincy career?) Certainly, we are coming in here on the back of a disappointing week last week, hopefully, we right those wrongs," Ben Stokes said after winning the toss.
"If you bat well, you get a chance to manipulate the game. Hopefully, we can bowl well. (On Cummins) He was close, he's done everything right. It would have been slightly risky in this game. (Inglis' batting position) He'll be batting in the middle order. Neser is in for Lyon. With the pink ball, it's going to offer a bit more under lights. We've done well in the past; it's a new game. It's going to be a great atmosphere," Australia captain Steve Smith said.
Teams:
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
Australia (Playing XI): Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith(c), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey(w), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett.
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