Paine explains call to leave out Pattinson for Lord's Test

Pattinson, who was impressive in Australia's Edgbaston victory over England, has had multiple injury setbacks through his career: He was ruled out midway through the 2013 and 2017 Ashes due to back injuries, and a side-strain also kept him out of the later stages of this year's Big Bash League.

Paine said that Australia had not taken Pattinson's injury-prone body into consideration in the past, and were keen on correcting that this time. "What we've done in the past with James is got him back, we know how good he is, so we keep using him and keep bowling him, and eventually he's broken again," he said on Tuesday, 13 August.

"He's available for selection but we've decided to rest him for this game and make sure that his long-term future is in really good shape.

"It was always going to be one way or the other – that he would miss this Test and be fresher for the third Test or he has this one after the long break and doesn't play in the third," the skipper explained.

Pattinson will be replaced by either Josh Hazlewood, who has also returned from a serious back injury, or Mitchell Starc. Both bowlers have been named in Australia's XII-member squad for the Test. Hazlewood has fond memories of playing in the Ashes at Lord's: He returned five wickets across two innings to play a crucial role in Australia's famous victory at the venue in 2015.

"We're really lucky in the fact we've got two bowlers in particular on the sidelines that are world-class and we want to make sure James is absolutely cherry ripe every time he plays," added Paine. "If you look at Starc and Hazlewood's records at Lord's, it's a good venue for one of those to play and be confident in the fact they can bowl really well here."

Australia XII for the Lord's Test: David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (c, wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood