Paine bowls first as England include Leach

Australia captain Tim Paine won the toss and elected to bowl first on the second morning of the second Ashes Test as Jack Leach won the final spot in England's XI at Lord's.

Whether the hosts would elect to replace axed spinner Moeen Ali with another tweaker in Leach, or opt for a five-man pace attack with Sam Curran was the final remaining selection question after Josh Hazlewood and Jofra Archer were confirmed as inclusions by their respective sides on the Test's washed-out opening day.

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Australia XI: David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (c/wk), Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

England XI: Rory Burns, Jason Roy, Joe Root (c), Joe Denly, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach

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But England captain Joe Root confirmed Leach was in, with Curran named as 12th man, conceding it had been a difficult decision.

Paine played down the importance of his decision to bowl, insisting, "It's not overly important what we do first, we have to do it well."

"I just think it might do a bit this morning. We've got four days, so I think the best way to win the Test match is to take some early wickets this morning."

Root admitted he would have also bowled first had he won the toss.

"It looks a relatively good pitch ... it might be tricky this morning, but we need to get through that and make a big first-innings total," he said.

Australia coach Justin Langer confirmed on Wednesday evening (London time) that Hazlewood had edged out Starc as James Pattinson's replacement, with the visitors taking a cautious approach with the injury-plagued Victorian.

"He's a class bowler, he's a great bloke, so (expecting) nothing different from Josh," off-spinner Nathan Lyon told cricket.com.au on Thursday morning.

"He's played a lot of Test match cricket and it's great to see him back."

No play was possible on Wednesday due to heavy rain, effectively making this match a four-day Test.

An extra half hour has been added to the second session for the remainder of the Test as a result, while the follow-on mark has been reduced from 200 runs to 150.

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Session times (all times local):

First session: 11am-1pm

Second session: 1.40pm-4.10pm

Third session: 4.30pm-6.30pm

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Langer said Hazlewood's economical bowling style, that has yielded him 164 Test wickets at 27.14, gave him the edge over Starc after the right-armer narrowly missed out on selection for the Ashes series opener to veteran seamer Peter Siddle.

"(Hazlewood) has got an outstanding record," Langer said after play on Wednesday, which was abandoned without a ball bowled.

"He’s built up over the past few months. He missed out on the World Cup because we felt he hadn’t played much cricket.

"Don’t get me wrong, it was a hard decision (picking Hazlewood over Starc)… it was a tough call."

Archer was presented his Test cap by close friend and England international Chris Jordan out in the middle of Lord's on Wednesday, with the 24-year-old replacing the injured James Anderson.

Lord's will turn red on Thursday for the inaugural Ruth Strauss Foundation Day, which honours the life of Ruth Strauss and aims to raise awareness and funds for rare forms of lung cancer.

Ruth Strauss, wife of former England captain Andrew Strauss, was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer that attacks non-smokers at the end of 2017 and passed away on December 29 last year aged 46.

Fans on day two are encouraged to where red – Ruth's favourite colour – with the players of both sides to be presented commemorative red caps and wear red numbers on the back of the Test shirts.

The initiative hopes to replicate the incredible feats of the McGrath Foundation's Jane McGrath Day, where thousands of spectators, pundits and even police officers wear pink on day three of the annual New Year's Test at the SCG.

"It's amazing. Hopefully everyone here will get behind it and support a great charity," said Lyon.

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

First Test: Australia beat England by 251 runs at Edgbaston

Second Test: August 14-18,Lord's

Third Test: August 22-26, Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval