England choose to bowl first against Ireland in one-off Test at Lord’s

Josh Tongue of England bowl during the first day of the four-day Test Match between England and Ireland at Lord’s Cricket Ground on June 01, 2023 in London.
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England chose to bowl first against Ireland in their one-off, four-day Test at Lord’s on Thursday.

Cloud cover during the toss was expected to move off after lunch.

England, warming up for the Ashes, picked its team on Tuesday and will debut Worcestershire seamer Josh Tongue.

Jonny Bairstow also returns as wicketkeeper for a first international since August after missing five Tests because of a broken leg.

The England players’ bus was briefly delayed at their hotel by protestors against new fossil fuel production.

Ireland will debut Fionn Hand as the third seamer.

The Irish lost Tests in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in April but achieved maiden hundreds for Lorcan Tucker, Paul Stirling and Curtis Campher.

Tongue impressed in February during the England Lions tour of Sri Lanka, and England coach Brendon McCullum called him “a bit of rough diamond.”

England did not pick James Anderson, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, and Mark Wood.

Ireland has World Cup victories against England in the 50-over and T20 tournaments but has never beaten England in a Test. In their only previous Test matchup in 2019 at Lord’s, Ireland gave England a scare after dismissing the home side for 58 in the first innings.

Lineups:

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts.

Ireland: James McCollum, PJ Moor, Andy Balbirnie (captain), Harry Tector, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume.