BIRMINGHAM: (L to R) England cricketers Ian Bell, Mark Wood and Stuart Broad enjoy a light moment during a training session at Edgbaston on Tuesday.—AFP

BIRMINGHAM: England want to bounce back from a disastrous showing at Lord’s by playing well enough to get a special Edgbaston crowd on their side in the third Ashes Test against Australia, said captain Alastair Cook.

Cook’s team were humiliated by 405 runs in the second Test at the home of cricket as Australia levelled the five-match series 1-1.

“The crowd really get behind us here,” Cook told a news conference on Tuesday. “If we get on top we feel as if we’ve got an extra man playing for us because of the noise.

“It’s almost a different atmosphere to anywhere else we play. We are 1-1 in an Ashes series coming to Edgbaston, a fantastic ground where we know that if we play good cricket the crowd will get behind us.

“Lord’s was an absolute disaster but that’s gone. It’s like a three-game series now and we need to win two of them to create something really special,” Cook said.

England have re-jigged their line-up, bringing in batsman Jonny Bairstow for Gary Ballance, and may also need to call up paceman Steven Finn in place of Mark Wood who has an ankle problem.

“With the rainy weather today Woody can’t bowl outside so we’re a little bit concerned about making a call on him,” said Cook.

England have made a series of poor batting starts recently and the skipper is hoping the in-form Bairstow’s inclusion and Ian Bell’s promotion from four to three in the order can spark a turnaround.

“We’ve found ourselves three wickets down early on too many occasions in the last six months or so and we’ve had a little bit of a rejig,” said Cook. “Congratulations to Jonny, he’s knocked the [selection] door down while playing for Yorkshire. He’s averaging over 100 which is fantastic cricket at any level.”

Cook had a warning for Chris Rogers despite saying he was pleased to hear that Australia’s opening batsman was fit again after a dizzy spell forced him to retire in the second innings at Lord’s.

Michael Clarke bats during a nets session.—AFP

Rogers feared he had suffered another bout of concussion following the head knock at training that ruled him out of both Tests against West Indies but subsequent checks showed it was an inner ear issue.

“It’s good that he’s physically okay, we don’t want anyone getting head injuries...but certainly we’ll have to test him,” Cook said.

Australia, meanwhile, will hope to carry the momentum to haunt England again with their impressive pace attack led by Mitchell Johnson.

Left-arm fast bowler Johnson took 37 wickets at 14 apiece as Australia thrashed England 5-0 on home soil to regain the Ashes in 2013-14.

Johnson, however, was mocked by England fans while going wicketless during the first innings of Australia’s 169-run defeat in Cardiff in the opening match of the current Ashes campaign.

It was though a very different story in the second Test at Lord’s, where Johnson had match figures of six for 80 during Australia’s crushing victory.

Cook may be in better form than Australia counterpart Michael Clarke but that counted for little as the hosts, with Johnson taking three cheap wickets, slumped to a humiliating 103 all out in their second innings.

Australia’s other left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc was not concerned by England’s attempts to stabilise a top order that has been 43-3 or worse seven times in their past 13 Test innings and promised there would be no let-up from the tourists’ pace attack.

“I am sure we will be following suit from what Mitch [Johnson] dished up at the end at Lord’s,” said Starc. “It is great to see a few of the guys jumping about, and we got a few wickets that way. We have got extra pace in our side.”

Australia have opted to field an unchanged side.

Opener Chris Rogers, who made a Test-best 173 in the first innings, is set to be given the all-clear after a balance problem in the inner ear forced him off the field on the fourth and final day at Lord’s.

Wicket-keeper Peter Nevill has retained is place after impressing on debut last time out even though Brad Haddin was available again after withdrawing for ‘family reasons’ ahead of the second Test.

Clarke said he had yet to speak to Rogers after the opener survived a stiff examination from his bowling team-mates in the nets on Monday.

Teams:

ENGLAND (probable): Alastair Cook (captain), Adam Lyth, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Chris Rogers, Steven Smith, Michael Clarke (captain), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand).

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (South Africa).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015

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