England win toss and bat in fourth test

CHESTER-LE-STREET, England (Reuters) - England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and decided to bat first in the fourth Ashes test against Australia in County Durham on Friday.

England's Cook pictured during a news conference before the fourth Ashes cricket test match against Australia at the Riverside cricket ground in Chester-le-Street near Durham

The home team, who are 2-0 up in the five-match series and have already clinched the Ashes, named the same 11 players involved in the drawn third test in Manchester last week.

Australia made one change, leaving out Mitchell Starc and bringing in Tasmania pace bowler Jackson Bird, 26, for his first appearance of the series.

"Jackson Bird is a wonderful young talent who's had a lot of success in first-class cricket in Australia," captain Michael Clarke said at the toss.

Teams

England: Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Jimmy Anderson.

Australia: Chris Rogers, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon.

(Editing by Ossian Shine)