Shane Watson to lead Australia against the England Lions

Australia will play against the England Lions in a two-day match in Northampton and all-rounder Shane Wason will lead the Australian side after skipper Michael Clarke opted to rest to give himself time to recover his full fitness before the fifth and final Test at The Oval. Clarke has regularly given the tour games a miss due to his chronic back injury.

Watson, on the other hand has just recovered from his groin injury, which he picked up in the fourth Test and the tour game would help him to regain match fitness.

Coach Darren Lehmann has decided to leave out Peter Siddle, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Chris Rogers, and Jackson Bird from the match. However, Ed Cowan, Matthew Wade, James Faulkner, and Ashton Agar have been included in the playing XI.

England have already won the Ashes with a 3-0 margin with just one Test to go.