Lyon in as Aussies make two changes to face England

Nathan Lyon will play his first game of the World Cup in arguably his side's biggest match of the tournament to date as Australia make two changes for their crunch clash with England at Lord's.

Wet weather and grey clouds greeted the visitors at the home of cricket on Tuesday as England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Despite the conditions, the reigning 50-over champions have elected for Lyon over fellow tweaker Adam Zampa, while Jason Behrendorff has been selected in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Image Id: 20C6C4A81FF6474294DB5EC8F065B92E Image Caption: The Aussies huddle up at Lord's // Cricket Network

Lyon played eight of Australia's nine ODIs leading into the World Cup but selectors overlooked him for the early stages of the tournament, with Zampa and allrounder Glenn Maxwell completing spin duties.

The Australians made two changes to the side that defeated Bangladesh by 41 runs at Trent Bridge on Thursday with Behrendorff playing his second match of the tournament. His only other appearance saw him take 1-59 against Sri Lanka at The Oval 10 days ago.

The unfortunate Coulter-Nile has bowled better than his four wickets at 70 for the tournament would suggest, while he's also had some success with the bat having smashed a record 92 from No.8 to help rescues Australia against West Indies in their second game.

Image Id: 37DBC59A494B4076ADD2C411DEC50D7E Image Caption: Nathan Coulter-Nile has four wickets in the World Cup // Getty

Zampa's omission comes after he's taken five wickets in 47.20, but his Melbourne Stars captain Maxwell suggested last week that the numbers don't tell the full story.

"I thought today was the best he's bowled in a while," the allrounder said of Zampa after he finished with 1-68 off eight overs against Bangladesh.

"At other times he's bowled not as well but still taken wickets. That's always been his challenge.

"Unfortunately, (there were a) couple of big hits off his good balls, which you expect as a spinner. It cost him towards the end of his spell. It's just the nature of leg-spin bowling in one-day cricket that some days your best ball goes for six."

England meanwhile played an unchanged XI for their first match since they suffered a shock defeat to Sri Lanka last week.

There had been some speculation before the coin toss that Jofra Archer was in doubt for the match with a side injury but the paceman, England's leading wicket-taker at the tournament, has kept his spot.

Opener Jason Roy, on the mend from a torn hamstring, will miss his third match on the trot with James Vince to keep his spot at the top of the order.

In the first of many clashes between Ashes rivals in the coming months, the match shapes as a battle of competing philosophies.

Aaron Finch prepares conceded his side tried and failed to copy England's revolutionary approach to one-day cricket last year.

Finch was part of the 2015 Cup-winning outfit that stockpiled wickets through the initial stages of their batting innings before using them to explode later.

It's a strategy they've refined and ultimately returned to, but not after a brief flirtation with England's enticing and more aggressive style of play on their five-game ODI tour of the United Kingdom last year.

Undermanned and under-fire following a soul-searching few months in Australian cricket, they lost every game of that campaign in a bruising start to Justin Langer's tenure as coach.

It was among the lowest points of Australia's storied 50-over history.

"We tried last year to beat them at their own game and it wasn't very successful. We came up pretty short in that series," Finch said.

"We saw the scores that England were getting and we felt like we had to play the same way. The reality was that wasn't our best way to play and it wasn't a side that has played together for three or four years that you can wear getting bowled out for 150 a couple of times."

After their shock defeat to Sri Lanka, Morgan has insisted England would not deviate from their aggressive approach to one-day cricket that has taken them to the top of the ODI rankings.

Asked if his side's belief in their aggressive strategy is as strong as ever, Morgan replied: "There is no reason why it shouldn't be.

"We are going to play competitive games. We are not going to win every game in this World Cup. We still need to go back to the process that's taken us to being a strong side in the world.

"I think the message is quite simple - we need to do the basics along with the way that we play as well."

England XI: James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

Australia XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon.

2019 World Cup

June 1: Australia beat Afghanistan by seven wickets

June 6: Australia beat West Indies by 15 runs

June 9: Australia lost to India by 36 runs

June 12: Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs

June 15: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs

June 20: Australia beat Bangladesh by 48 runs

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

Sync Australia's World Cup schedule to your calendar HERE

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE