Spin strategies provide point of difference for Lord's battle

Of the many glaring differences between the manner and method both teams took into the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston, perhaps the most telling was the disparity between their respective spin bowlers.

While England called up bowling allrounder Moeen Ali, who had been absent from first-class cricket for two years and finished the match with 3-204 from 47 overs, Australia's record-breaking off-spinner Nathan Lyon's comparatively similar 53 overs returned a game-high 8-229.

And that contrast will become even more stark in the second Test at Lord's starting later today with England opting to go without a specialist spinner and instead opting for a four-pronged seam attack bolstered by newly capped quick Josh Tongue.

Despite Moeen this week bowling without obvious signs of inconvenience from the raw blister on his spinning finger that developed due to the sudden spike in his workload, the hosts believe Tongue's extra pace will prove more of an asset on a well-grassed Lord's pitch.

It's a bold strategy, and one that defies recent precedent at cricket's spiritual home.

Only once in the past 20 years have England gone into a Test at Lord's – where they habitually play twice each summer – without either a specialist spinner or a spin-bowling allrounder like Moeen.

The exception was the 2021 match against soon-to-be-crowned World Test Champions New Zealand in a rain-interrupted game that ultimately ended in a draw despite the Black Caps' final-day declaration.

Image Id: B9BE13DE564945E08678458E1EBA18CE Image Caption: Moeen Ali chats with England coach Brendon McCullum this week // Getty

As will be the case in the upcoming battle, Joe Root was England's sole spin option in that Test albeit behind the four-pronged seam attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood (replaced by Tongue in this Test), with the then-England skipper finishing with 1-54 from 16.4 overs.

But Ben Stokes, Root's successor as England captain and co-pioneer with coach Brendon McCullum of the team's new ultra-aggressive approach, believes his part-time spinner has developed into a genuine bowling threat rather than merely a stop-gap option.

"What Joe showed last week is that his bowling has sort of been someone who you throw the ball to, or has given himself the ball, to bowl the odd over here and there and maybe try and get a breakthrough," Stokes said on Test eve.

"But he's gone from strength to strength, and the more responsibility I've tried to give him with the ball I think has brought out another side of Joe.

"So it's great having someone like that who also averages 50 with the bat."

Regardless of the faith placed in him by his current captain, Root faces a sizeable task to fill the boots of a frontline spinner should Australia's top-order batters survive the seam onslaught and force England's ageing pair of Anderson (40) and Broad (37) to bowl multiple spells.

Since snaring a career-best 5-8 (from 6.2 overs) against India on a raging spinner's pitch at Ahmedabad in February 2021, his 18 wickets from 29 Tests have come at an average of 55.44 runs, striking every 16 overs.

Over that same period, Lyon has been the most successful bowler in Test cricket with 96 wickets at 26.33 and a strike rate of 58.8. meaning he has proved almost twice as potent as his former Adelaide club cricket teammate and good friend, Root.

Whereas England have no qualms about outsourcing specialist spin bowling duties to their best-credentialled batter, Australia will be sticking with Lyon – the most successful finger spinner his country has produced – for the 100th consecutive time in Tests.

Given that unprecedented run over the past decade includes regular appearances at venues as notoriously spin-bowler unfriendly as the WACA Ground and Perth Stadium, Lyon's value to Australia's men's Test team clearly extends beyond his considerable skills set.

"It's a testament to not only how good Nath is in terms of longevity and fitness and form, but to be able to play 100 Tests means you're getting picked in all conditions," Australia skipper Pat Cummins said at his pre-game media conference.

"I know at the start of his career, you'd talk about (possibly playing) four quicks at the Gabba but he's just so valuable to our team that I couldn't imagine a side without Nath in there.

"I've seen they (England) have gone with four quicks, which is probably as we expected after seeing Moeen's injury last week, but I feel really lucky we've got Nath."

While Anderson (117) and Broad (102) have been comprehensively the most successful bowlers at Lord's over the past 20 years, spin has played a decisive part at a ground where batting can become straightforward and scoring breezy when the sun shines and the pitch flattens out.

England's third-highest wicket-taker in the 40 Tests at Lord's since 2003 has been off-spinner Graeme Swann (40 at 24.08).

And among bowlers to have claimed 15 or more wickets at the historic venue during that window, only New Zealand left-arm seamer Trent Boult (42.24) can claim a better economy rate than ex-England left-arm orthodox spinner Monty Panesar's 42.70 runs per 100 balls bowled.

Lyon's record at Lord's is not quite so imposing.

From his two outings in 2015 and 2019 he's claimed six wickets at 41.67 with best figures of 3-68 in England's first innings of the drawn Test four years ago.

But if he was seeking consolation heading into today's Test, it might come from knowing Root can claim just one more scalp from nine times as many matches at Lord's at the marginally skinnier average of 37.86.

Certainly Lyon has sufficient experience at Lord's to understand the ground's nuances, such as the 2.5m slope that runs from north to south and he has a good feel for the ground heading into his third Test appearance there needing just five wickets to reach 500.

"I don't feel like I need to change much," Lyon said at Lord's on match eve.

"I actually really enjoy bowling here using the slope to our advantage as bowlers.

"But it's a different challenge, it's a different wicket.

"We're not sure what the wicket is going to look like on day one, whether it's going to be overcast or whatnot.

"So if the seamers do the work and I don't have to do much, that's all well and good.

"I'm happy to put my hand up in the tough situations, and we'll have a crack and see how we go."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood