England vs Australia, 2nd Test at Lord's

London: Australia pace bowler Brett Lee has been ruled out of the second Ashes Test after failing to recover from the rib injury that forced him to  miss the first, captain Ricky Ponting said on Wednesday.

Lee pulled a muscle in a warm-up game prior to last week's drawn opener in Cardiff and now sits out the Lord's test, which starts on Thursday.

"He didn't train with us yesterday, he won't be available for selection for this game, we obviously needed him to do a bit more bowling than that before this test," Ponting told reporters.

"Hopefully, he'll come up for the tour game between this and the third test (at Edgbaston starting on July 30)."

Lord's is a place for the captains to star. Andrew Strauss missed out twice in the first Test, scoring 30 and 17, and needs to inspire his batting team-mates after they all gave away reasonable starts last week.

The home of cricket is also Strauss's county ground for Middlesex, so he knows everything about the revered address. He has not scored a century here since 2006, but has reached triple figures three times on the way to averaging 58.17 in 11 matches.

Ricky Ponting, who has made 27 runs in three Test innings at Lord's, must stand up if his side is to maintain its intimidating batting intensity. In Cardiff Ponting breezed to 150, becoming one of four Australian century-makers, but the second Test will be played in different conditions and against a team that now remembers the last hour of batting, not the 181 overs of bowling.

Team news

England: Strauss wants to go with five bowlers - Ian Bell has been released from the squad - but his biggest worry is Flintoff's injured knee. Flintoff is bowing out of Tests at the end of the series and will be desperate to play while Steve Harmison is acting as his cover. Graham Onions was in the squad in Cardiff but didn't get a game, increasing his chances of appearing at Lord's, where two spinners are not a viable option.

Squad (from): Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Monty Panesar, Matt Prior, Kevin Pietersen, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Graham Onions, Graeme Swann, Andrew Strauss, Andrew Flintoff, Alastair Cook, Steve Harmison, Stuart Broad.

Australia: Stuart Clark will be talked about but don't expect any changes to Australia's XI. Ponting should confirm the side later on Wednesday and it would be a shock if any of the players who pushed England last week are omitted. Brett Lee remains out with a stomach problem.

Squad (from): Ricky Ponting, Phillip Hughes, Peter Siddle, Nathan Hauritz, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Marcus North, Graham Manou, Brad Haddin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Andrew McDonald, Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Stuart Clark.

Pitch and conditions
Draws have been common recently at Lord's, but all the bowlers will feel this pitch is a raging seamer compared to the block of cement offered in Cardiff. There was an attractive green tinge on the surface on Tuesday and even though the grass was cut shorter on Wednesday, there is sure to be some life in it for the fast men. The same strip was used in 2005, although nobody is expecting a repeat of the 17 wickets that dropped on the opening day. The forecast is for sunny intervals on Thursday, rain on Friday and some showers over the weekend.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have lost only one Test at Lord's, in 1934, since the 1896 tour
• In 33 matches at headquarters Australia have won 14, drawn 14, and lost five
• England have been successful in 43 of 116 Tests at the ground, but have drawn six of their past seven encounters
• Don Bradman's 254 in 1930 is the highest score at Lord's in an Ashes contest, ahead of Wally Hammond's 240 eight years later
• Hedley Verity's 15 wickets in 1934 are the best here by an Englishman in an Ashes game. Bob Massie's 16 for 137 in 1972 leads the overall list
• Ponting needs 65 runs to overtake Allan Border's Australian record of 11,174 Test runs

Match facts
Thursday, July 16 - Monday, July 20, 2009
Start time 11.00 (10.00 GMT)

Highlights of the match