Starc, Hazlewood vie for Ashes 2nd test spot as Pattinson misses out

Australia have left pace bowler James Pattinson out of their 12-man squad for the second Ashes Test against England, with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood both vying for a recall.

Pattinson was part of the team that won by 251 runs at Edgbaston, taking two wickets in his first Test in three years.

But the 29-year-old will sit out the Lord’s Test, which starts on Wednesday, leaving Starc and Hazlewood to push their claims.

“What is fortunate at the moment is we’ve got six fit and healthy fast bowlers,” said head coach Justin Langer at Monday’s pre-match press conference.

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“I’ve been coaching for about 10 years now and I can’t ever remember having that luxury, but it could change like that so we’re not getting carried away with it.

“The fact that we had Josh and Mitch on the bench in the last Test match, it doesn’t happen very often.”

With Pattinson’s long-standing fitness problems and the next two Tests coming back to back, the decision to leave him out appears to be a case of workload management.

Left-arm quick Starc was the top wicket-taker at the recent World Cup, with 27 scalps, while right-arm Hazlewood was left out of the tournament to get him fit and ready for the Ashes.

Hazlewood returned figures of 3-34 in last week’s tour match at Worcester but the final decision will not be revealed until the toss.