The Ashes 2013: Shane Watson to lead Australia against England Lions in Northampton

Shane Watson of Australia in action against England

Shane Watson will lead Australia in a tour game against the England Lions in Northampton.

The match will be played over two days and Watson has been chosen as captain, as both Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin, the present captain and vice-captain are to be rested for the game.

Shane Watson has been cleared to bat, but he will still be unable to bowl following pain in the groin and right hip region. He had sustained the injury during the fourth Test match and will be closely monitored by the team management to avoid any aggravation.

Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Haddin have already left for London in a bid to prepare for the fifth Test, scheduled to be played at the Oval from Wednesday.

Mitchell Starc and James Faulkner will be the only fast bowlers to be playing for Australia at Northampton, as Jackson Bird is also going to be rested. Coach Darren Lehmann has said that Matthew Wade will bowl a few seamer’s for the side if necessary, as he had exhibited the capability to do so during the Test against Sri Lanka at Hobart in December.

Lehmann has said that the spinners, Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon will have an extended bowl in the match.

“We’ll give them [Agar and Lyon] a decent bowl,” said Lehmann,as reported by Cricinfo.

“You’d be mad not to. It’s a great opportunity to bowl a lot of overs. Steve Smith will bowl a few, you might see Wade or Warner bowl a few. We’ll see how we go.

“The thing for us is to just get the batters some time in the middle. We can only bat for a day and bowl for a day. I suppose it’s like a longer training session, if you like, and it’s not first-class. For us it’s still a chance to impress the selectors and perform really well and get to where we want to get to. It’s still important, it’s two long days.” he said, signing off.