Ashes: Josh Tongue replaces Moeen Ali for England ahead of second Test

England will throw the extra pace of Josh Tongue at Australia in the second Test at Lord’s in their aggressive attempt to hit back in the Ashes.

Tongue, who made an impressive debut against Ireland in the pre-Ashes warm-up Test, comes in at the expense of Moeen Ali as England go for an all-seam attack on what looks like a green Lord’s pitch.

England would have gone for the x-factor that Mark Wood provides but he appears to be struggling with a recurrence of the elbow injury that has caused him so many problems.

It looked on Monday as though Moeen had recovered from the blister on his finger that so badly affected him on his return to the Test side after two years away at Edgbaston.

But England have decided that Joe Root’s spin will be enough at Lord’s, particularly as he bowled so well on the final day of the first Test when Moeen was struggling.

England have made one change for the second Ashes Test, with Josh Tongue coming in

Moeen Ali will miss out at Lord’s despite seemingly recovering from his blistered finger

It will be the first time England have gone into a Test without a specialist spinner under the Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum regime that has transformed their cricket.

Jack Leach would have been a certain starter had he not suffered a stress fracture of the back in that opening Test of the summer against Ireland.

That led to the emergency call for Moeen and then the subsequent call-up last week of Rehan Ahmed but it is pace and seam that England feel gives them their best chance of levelling this five-match Ashes series over the next week at Lord’s.

It is the completion of a spectacular rise for Worcestershire seamer Tongue, who impressed for England Lions during the winter but was barely on the radar for a senior call up this summer – at least while Jofra Archer and Olly Stone were fit.

Their subsequent injuries opened the door to the first man to dismiss Steve Smith this summer, in his case for Worcestershire against Sussex, and after taking a five-wicket haul against Ireland in his first appearance at Lord’s, he will now have the chance to do it again in the second Test this week.

There will be no specialist spinner for the first time under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum

Mark Wood may have been fielded for his x-factor if not for a recurrence of an elbow injury