ENGLAND have dropped Steve Finn on his home ground and will bat first in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.

The Middlesex seamer misses out with Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan coming in, while the Australians have made two changes to their team from the first game - and both their new faces have Lancashire League connections.

Former Lowerhouse professional Ryan Harris and Usman Khawaja, who signed a deal with Ramsbottom two years ago only for the deal to fall through due to international commitments, are the men coming in for Mitchell Stark and Ed Cowan.

England skipper Alastair Cook won the toss and had no hesitation in batting and admitted is was a 'tough decision' to leave out Finn.

Aussie captain Michael Clarke, himself a former Ramsbottom professional, admitted he would have batted first had he won the toss.

Play starts at 11.15am after the players have been introduced to The Queen.