The Ashes 2nd Test Match Prediction: England versus Australia. Who Will Win?

If the remaining four Tests of The Ashes series are anything like the first one at Edgbaston, then we will be in for a treat. The first Test ebbed and flowed, and we were never sure who was going to win right up until the final ball of the game. It was Test match cricket at its best. Australia edged it, thanks to a quality knock from Pat Cummins, so England will be looking to hit back in the second Test that starts at Lord's on the 28th. As usual, before you do any cricket betting on this game, read our cricket match prediction.

England Team Preview

A few days after the first Test ended, England called up teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed to their squad as cover for Moeen Ali, who has a nasty blister on his spinning finger. Apart from that, the squad remains the same as it was for the narrow defeat in Birmingham. Let us give you three England players to look out for during the second Test:

Joe Root: In the first Test, Joe Root showed just why it is that he is considered to be the best batsmen that England have ever produced. In the first innings, he was putting the Aussies to the sword (or bat), which was why it was a shock when Ben Stokes declared with Root still at the crease. In the second innings, it looked like he was on his way to another high score, but he needlessly gave his wicket away and was stumped for the first time in his career. If there is one wicket the Aussies desire, it is his.

Mark Wood: If there is one thing that England looked like they lacked in the first Test, it was extreme pace on a pitch that did not offer an awful lot. If there is one thing that Wood has it is pace - the fastest ball, he has bowled was just under 157 kph. The Aussies sometimes look quite comfortable against England's attack, so we think he will come in at the expense of James Anderson, who, because of his age, will not play every Test in this cramped series.

Stuart Broad: Bowlers all have their favourite grounds, and it is fair to say that Lord's is one of Broad's favourite hunting grounds. To date, he has 108 wickets at Lord's at an average of 27.43, which is only bettered by Anderson's 117 at an average of 24.59. Broad is great entertainment, especially against the Aussies, so England fans will be hoping he goes on one of his famous wicket-taking runs where he tears through the Australian's batting line up.

Our predicted England XI: Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes, Bairstow, Robinson, Broad, Ahmed, Wood.

Australia Team Preview

Australia will feel like they played a "Get Out of Jail" card in the first test, and we are pretty sure that Cummins and Nathan Lyon did not have to dip their hands into their pockets during that night's celebration. The Aussies picked their squad for the first two Ashes Tests a while back, and they have not made any alterations to it after their win at Edgbaston. They know that a win here will leave them with at least one hand on that coveted little urn. Below are three Aussies to watch out for in the second Test:

Usman Khawaja: The Pakistani-born Australian was a thorn in England's side throughout the Test, and thoroughly deserved his Player of the Match award. He scored more than 200 runs in the match, and ground the England fast bowlers into the Edgbaston soil. Now that he has savoured the taste of a first Ashes century in England, he will be hungry for more, and the England bowlers will want to see the back of him before he settles in for bed and breakfast. It would not be a surprise to us if he gets his name up on the Lord's honour board, and we are sure that many who are betting on The Ashes will back him to be Australia's top scorer.

Mitchell Starc: The Aussie quick sat out of the first Test at Edgbaston, but we think that he might be recalled for this second Test at the expense of Scott Boland, who got plenty of stick from the English batsmen in the first Test. When Boland came on to bowl, the English batters took a liking to him, and he went at six runs an over in the first innings and five runs per over in the second. Starc is more aggressive than Boland, and pitches the ball a lot further up the pitch, bringing swing and yorkers into play. This variation could cause plenty of issues for England.

Nathan Lyon: Whenever England looked to be getting away in the first Test, it seemed that Lyon would come on and stem the momentum with a crucial wicket. He picked up a total of eight wickets in the match, with the most important one arguably being that of Root's in the second innings when he had raced to 46 runs without looking in any trouble. Lyon is a very fine spin bowler, and he will have a huge say in who walks away with the urn this time around. He we also be looking to pick up five wickets in this Test, so he can cross the 500-wicket threshold.

Our predicted Australia XI: Khawaja, Warner, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Green, Carey, Cummins, Lyon, Starc, Hazlewood.

Toss Prediction

There has been a total of 144 Test matches played at Lord's and 52 of these have been won by the team that won the toss, which is a percentage of 36.11%. The team that has batted first has gone on to win 35.42% of the time compared to the 29.17% of the time that the team batting second has won the match. Cricketers are obsessed with stats and history, so we predict that the captain that wins the toss will opt to bat first so that they can try and put their opponents under immense scoreboard pressure.

Pitch Conditions

If the pitch is like your average Lord's pitch, then it will be dry and have a bit of grass, which will be good for batsmen and bowlers. There is value for your shots at Lord's as can be seen from the fact that the average score batting first at Lord's in Test cricket is 310. This is the type of pitch where the spin bowlers come into action in the third and fourth innings of a Test - they can bowl into the rough and cause batsmen all sorts of issues. Overall, we are expecting a pitch that offers more than the one at Edgbaston did. It was a credit to the players that they managed to create such drama on such a lifeless pitch.

Our Match Prediction

So, if you are going to be placing bets on betting sites for cricket, who do we suggest you put your money on for this second Test? Well, this is another game that is really hard to call and could go either way, but with England's aggressive nature and the fact the Aussies will be extremely confident after coming away with a win at Edgbaston, our money is on Australia to take a 2-0 lead in the series and all but reclaim the Ashes.

Our 2nd Test match prediction: Australia to win.