Australia got off to a great start on Day 1 of the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord’s. At the end of the day, they were 339/5 with Steven Smith (85 not out) and Alex Carey (11 not out) at the wicket. Ben Stokes, the captain of England, won the toss and chose to bowl first because it was cloudy. But the England bowlers couldn’t take advantage of the good conditions because Usman Khawaja and David Warner added 73 runs before the first wicket fell. Andrew Strauss, a former England captain, said that the team couldn’t take advantage of the weather because Stokes wasn’t very aggressive as captain in the middle and relied too much on the pitch.
“Stokes is usually very busy and tries new things to get the batsmen out. I think that his attitude today was “let the field do the work for us.”
Andrew Strauss was reported on Sky Cricket as saying, “There was enough for that to be a smart move.”
The three-time Ashes winner also said that England’s bowlers didn’t try very hard and were a little off-target.
“The trouble was that England’s bowlers thought it would happen, so they might not have tried as hard. I thought they were a little off and that they didn’t have much zip. They will be very upset because they had a great chance and messed up their lines,” he said.
After a bad start, Joe Root brings the hosts back at Lord’s.
On Day 1, all of England’s bowlers except James Anderson and Joe Root gave up more than four runs per over. Root, who bowled 2/19 in 8 overs, was the best of the bowlers on the first day, which was a surprise. He got the valuable wicket of Travis Head after the southpaw and Smith scored 118 runs quickly in 120 balls.
Root then got rid of Cameron Green for a duck in three balls in the same over. This brought England back into the game right before stumps. But at stumps, Australia was still in the lead with 339/5.
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