England decide to bat in Ashes opener

Cardiff: England skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and chose to bat in the first Ashes Test in Cardiff here on Wednesday

England decided to go with both their spinners - Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. Pacer Graeme Onions and middle order batsman Ian Bell were excluded.

Scorecard

Teams:

England: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior, Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.

Australia: Phil Hughes, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (captain), Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke, Marcus North, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle.

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