England choose to bowl against Australia

The match is the second of the seven-game series that follows England's 3-1 Ashes triumph, with Australia winning the first game at the MCG on Sunday, when Shane Watson hit a match-winning 161 not out to lead the home side to a six-wicket win.

England couldn't consider spinner Graeme Swann, who has been sidelined by a bruised knee.

Fellow spinner James Tredwell came into the side to replace Swann, while wicketkeeper Matt Prior returned at the expense of Steve Davies, who opened in the first match.

Prior's return comes after he was preferred to Davies for England's World Cup squad named during the week, while veteran Paul Collingwood was again overlooked.

Australia made three changes, with spinner Nathan Hauritz recalled to face England for the first time this summer at the expense of Xavier Doherty, batsman Shaun Marsh replacing the injured Mike Hussey and paceman Shaun Tait overcoming a back problem to replace Mitchell Johnson.

Teams:

Australia:

Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Cameron White, David Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Doug Bollinger.

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Matt Prior, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Michael Yardy, Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Chris Tremlett, Ajmal Shahzad.

Umpires: Tony Hill (NZL), Paul Reiffel (AUS)

TV Umpire: Billy Bowden (NZL)

Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (SRI)

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011

Read Comments