Australian national cricket team led by Pat Cummins deservingly took a 2-0 lead in the ongoing five-match Ashes Test series. The Aussies who became the ICC World Test Champions by beating India in the WTC final 2023 recently, continued to march on ahead with the same winning template against England in the Ashes.

Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon.

Rightly so, they took the first lead in the series by beating England by two wickets at Edgbaston in Birmingham, in what was one of the best-ever wins for Australia in the history of the Ashes. The visitors approached the second Test with the same energy and confidence.

Even as England performed well in fragments, Australia had the last laugh in the battle at The Lord's. The Aussies got the better of England by 43 runs. With two straight wins, the Aussies definitely have a mental edge going forward and it seems like they will retain the Ashes this time around. 

As far as England are concerned, they still have a lot of catching up to do to turn things around. Even the slightest mistake might put them on backfoot. Even a draw in the next test match will mean that Australia will retain the Ashes. The Three Lions will have to change their strategy a bit to get the desirable results.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) have finalized the squad for the remaining Ashes series. Australia's experienced spinner, Nathan Lyon will be missing the remainder of the series owing to a calf muscle. Nathan Lyon's absence gives a window of opportunity to Todd Murphy who will make his presence count in the rest of the series.

For the record, Todd Murphy accounted for 14 dismissals at a fabulous batting average of 25.21 during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Team India. Nathan Lyon reckons that Murphy has the potential to put up a great fight against England. 

"His stock ball is good enough in international cricket. We have seen that in India in arguably the hardest place to bowl spin. It will be a different challenge with the England batters. If they do come at him, it provides Todd with a decent challenge. But a chance to leave his footmarks here in England. It is a big Ashes series, he is excited by the opportunity," Nathan Lyon stated as per cricket.com.au.

Australia squad for remaining Ashes Tests against England:

Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner