England make decision on Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes with defiant Ashes vow
England are keen to ask the same players to fire up again at Lord’s in their bid to square the series at the first chance.
There are no regrets over the team they picked for the opening clash with the narrow margin of defeat seen as a vindication of the method those players used across the five days.
And assuming everyone is fit to take the field fans can expect to see an identical line up to the one that came within two good balls of snatching victory in the first Ashes Test.
The pace bowlers will need to rest up before being assessed for action on Monday with Mark Wood primed and ready to go should there be any doubts.
While the gap before the next Test on Wednesday means that Moeen Ali has a good chance of his spinning finger healing well enough for him to continue.
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“I think the guys that we had here did a really good job,” said head coach Brendon McCullum. “I think the guys are proud of the efforts that they put in and I'm sure will go to Lord’s with a lot of confidence.
“I thought Mo did a great job – he bowled a couple of absolute jaffas in the game and that was what his role was. He’s got a big smile on his face and is enjoying being back playing Test cricket. We'll monitor his finger over the next few days and hopefully he'll come right for the next one.
“I'm pretty confident we can get on top of Mo’s finger and that’ll give us an opportunity to select him in the next game, which if he's available, he will be selected.”
Moeen now has time to recover after suffering with a blister during the first test (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)McCullum had plenty of praise for Jonny Bairstow too after his strong showing with the bat in the first innings. Although the clamour for Ben Foakes was increased after a missed stumping and the odd missed chance with the gloves.
“I thought Jonny did a really good job,” said McCullum. “I’ve kept over here before, it's not the easiest place to keep and they were pretty tough mistakes to be honest.
“If you look at the way he progressed throughout the game as well, I think he will be better for the run out. And we know what he offers with the bat, him coming in at seven is a real weapon for us as well.”
England sparked and sparkled at times with their brand of cricket while Australia rebuffed them with vintage Test match tactics at the first opportunity. But as far as McCullum is concerned, this is only the beginning.
England's Jonny Bairstow had a mixed test behind the stumps (Getty Images)“We were two wickets away from being one nil up in the series and if we’d had the rub of the green we might have been on the other end of it,” added McCullum.
“I've got no regrets about how we went about it and how Australia went about it. We played to our style and Australia to theirs and I’m sure they'll continue with those tactics right throughout the series.
“I think we always want to try and take the game forward. And we want to try and seize opportunities where we think we can put opposition teams under pressure. It is set up to be a fascinating contest."
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And McCullum has also insisted that their response to the defeat of their Bazball philosophy in Birmingham, will be to go even harder at Lord’s.
“We'll go a little harder and they'll probably stick to their strategy so I think it makes for a really entertaining next few Test matches,” said McCullum.
“Both teams have got a little bit of time to digest what's unfolded over the last five days and maybe slightly tweak a couple of things along the way.
“But I'd expect that they’d carry on doing the same sort of plays that they executed here, and we’ll be doing the same. So I think it's going to be another great contest in days to come
“There's always twists and turns in different conditions as well and we'll see what Lord's serves up, but I’d expect both teams will come with similar styles to what we've had here.”
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