England choose to bat; Australia pick Hazlewood over Starc in Ashes opener

England have won the toss and opted to bat in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston in Birmigham. Australia have picked Josh Hazlewood at the expense of Mitchell Starc while Scott Boland retained his place in the XI.

Sir Alastair Cook walks out to the middle with the Ashes Urn in hand. Both teams make the walk down from the pavilion, with optimism and excitement pervading the atmosphere. The recital of the national anthems take place in front of a packed crowd.

The Ashes rivalry piques the interest of cricket aficionados all over the planet, more so this time around when Australia are Test champions and England are reinventing the format itself. 

Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland

England (Playing XI): Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson