“Where was the spark?” Nasser Hussain questions England for lack of intensity at Lord’s

Josh Tongue was England’s best fast bowler on the day, knocking off both of Australia’s openers with excellent pitches to finish with numbers of 2-88.

New Delhi: Former England captain Nasser Hussain severely criticized Ben Stokes and his teammates for their poor performance on the first day of the second Ashes 2023 test against Australia at Lord’s, stating that they lacked energy and enthusiasm.

David Warner (66), Travis Head (77) and Steve Smith (85 not out) all scored half-centuries as Australia mocked England’s seam attack on the opening day of the first day of the second Ashes 2023 test and finished on 339/5 at Lord’s. Hussain felt England had no aggression with the ball.

“They were subdued despite winning the toss and there was a real lack of intensity in their bowling attack. The speeds of each of the five seam bowlers were slow and they didn’t bowl with bouncers to turn things around while the fielding was sloppy and they missed… catches,” Hussian wrote in his Daily Mail column.

“Where was the spark? Where was the urgency? When the Just Stop Oil protest took place there was a lot of talking and when it rained they walked out and were still upstairs when the Australian batters waited on the stairs at the bottom of the pavilion.

“In those drizzly conditions, when the umpires call you back, as a fielding team you want to storm straight through and bowl as much as possible,” he added.

The 55-year-old paid tribute to England pacemaker Josh Tongue as he impressed everyone and also praised the youngster sending off David Warner. “Josh Tongue was the cream of the crop of the bowlers and it was a brave selection to play him at green top when they might as well have chosen Chris Woakes, a good all round cricketer with a fine record at this terrain,” Hussain noted.

“Tongue’s dismissal of David Warner from around the wicket was a fine piece of bowling. But it was a rare positive in what has generally been a lack of intensity in England. Tongue was England’s best fast bowler on the day, knocking off both of Australia’s openers with excellent deliveries and finishing the day with figures of 2/88.

Australia will look to extend their dominance on the second day, with Smith and Alex Carey looking to take the lead on Thursday.