"Both Got Pretty Big Egos...": Former Australia Skipper On Brendon McCullum, Ben Stokes

Former Australia Test skipper Tim Paine reckons England lack the depth to go toe to toe with Pat Cummins and Co in the ongoing Ashes series, adding that the visitors will only get better with every game. Australia notched up a thrilling two-wicket win over England on a flat Edgbaston pitch in the opener to take 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series. "I think the Aussies played ok in the first Test, I think we've got a lot of improvement in us. I'm not sure the Poms have got the depth to go with us," Paine said on SEN Radio.

"We heard pre-series that they wanted hard and flat wickets. They got that in the first Test and it didn't quite pan out." Ahead of the series, skipper Ben Stokes had said that England wanted fast, flat pitches to help execute their attacking style of play.

However, the loss in Birmingham has seemingly forced the host to change their game plan as a green wicket has been prepared for the second Test at Lord's, according to Paine.

"If you look at tonight's pitch, it looks like everyone's backyard in Australia, so it's going to be interesting. They're obviously trying to bring (Stuart) Broad and (James) Anderson back into the Test match. They didn't have much of an impact (in Birmingham)." Paine further stated that while the the green wicket will bring back leading bowlers Anderson and Broad into the equation, the home batters will struggle on it.

"They're very reliant on Joe Root, their top three is pretty suspect and on a green wicket, whilst it will bring Broad and Anderson back into the contest, I think their batters are going to find it extremely difficult." On the other hand, the Australians too have to improve.

"We had a number of our good players down and I think our depth and our ability to