England opt to bowl first

Nottingham - England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to field against Australia in the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

The overcast conditions promised to aid swing bowling, with Australia having struggled against the moving ball this series.

England, 2-1 up in the five-match series and a win away from regaining the Ashes, made one change from the side that won the third Test by eight wickets at Edgbaston last week.

Durham fast bowler Mark Wood returned from the ankle problem which saw him miss out at Edgbaston to replace James Anderson after England's all-time leading wicket-taker - also a Trent Bridge specialist - was ruled out with a side injury.

Australia also made one change with top-order batsman Shaun Marsh replacing younger brother Mitchell Marsh, a 23-year-old seam bowling all-rounder.

Shaun Marsh, 32 who played the last of his 14 Tests against the West Indies in Jamaica in June, has scored two hundreds in three tour-match innings while in England this trip.

He was listed to bat at number four with Australia captain Michael Clarke, dropping back down to a number five position where he averages 60 in Test cricket.

Scores of 10 and three at Edgbaston left Clarke with a meagre series aggregate of 94 runs in six innings at an average of under 19.

Middle-order batsman Adam Voges, who played at Trent Bridge for Nottinghamshire, retained his place despite averaging just 14.60 this series.

Teams:

England:

Adam Lyth, Alastair Cook (captain), Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Steven Finn

Australia:

David Warner, Chris Rogers, Steven Smith, Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke (captain), Adam Voges, Peter Nevill (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), S Ravi (IND)

TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

Weather: Top temperature of 24 degrees Celsius, cloudy.

Pitch conditions: A green tinged pitch promised to offer the bowlers early assistance as did the heavy cloud cover, although conditions should get easier for batting throughout the day.