Australia have dropped Shane Watson for the second Ashes Test against England, scheduled to start from Thursday at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
Mitchell Marsh, who is an all-rounder, has replaced Watson for the second Test of the Ashes 2015. He smashed two centuries in the practice match against county side Kent.
Australia, having lost the first Test by a huge margins wanted to get their basics right. They probably were facing difficulties in acclimatising to the English conditions.
They will also be missing the services of wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin as he pulled out of the Lord's Test match stating "personal reasons." Haddin made way for Peter Nevill, who is set to make his debut with the baggy green on Thursday.
Watson was struggling to get back to scoring ways for quite sometime now. He has been out leg-before-wicket twice in the first Test match of the Ashes 2015 against England at Cardiff. English bowlers have more or less understood how to get the wicket of Watson. Head coach Darren Lehmann would be looking forward to the performance of Marsh, who has played four Test matches before this and he averages at 37.62.
Mitchell Starc suffered from an ankle injury during the Cardiff Test, but it seemed that he has recovered form that niggle and is fit to play in the Lord's Test match. He was seen bowling in the nets without any sign of pain. However, Australia have kept Peter Siddle as a back-up if Starc decides to pull out of the second Test match in the last minute.
Australia Team for Lord's Test:
Michael Clarke (C), David Warner, Chris Rogers, Steve Smith, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon.
