Strauss' advice for England: Patience key to getting Smith's wicket

Smith was the stand-out batsman for Australia in the first Ashes Test: his twin centuries a continuation of the form he showed against England in the previous home series. His average in the past six Ashes Tests is an incredible 139.

There appear to be few chinks in Smith's armour; England have brought Jack Leach, the left-arm spinner, into the squad to give themselves the option of exploiting the hint of one. But overall, the former Australia skipper has looked in supreme control and remains the biggest challenge as Joe Root and his men look to come back from a 1-0 deficit in the series.

Strauss, who led England to victory in the 2009 Ashes, urged the England bowlers to keep it simple. "If you look in that first innings, he played and missed a lot early on ... I don’t think it’s a case of reinventing the wheel," he said.

"A good ball to other people is a good ball to him, but maybe just a little bit wider. He played brilliantly, fantastically well. But he’s going to nick one at some point.

“Bowlers have to be prepared to be patient.”

The first day's play at Lord's on Wednesday, 14 August, was washed out. While no toss could take place, England confirmed a debut for Jofra Archer. Archer was handed his Test cap by Chris Jordan, his fellow England pacer, who has been instrumental in supporting Archer's journey from Barbados to the England cricket team.

Archer had kept his nerve to bowl the Super Over that won England the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, and Strauss has high expectations from him in red-ball cricket as well. “He’s got pace, he’s accurate, he’s got good variety,” said Strauss, even as he added a note of caution. “I think he’s going to be a fantastic England bowler and have a long career, [but] we can’t expect him to be the answer to all our prayers.