Live Commentary: England vs. Australia - Fifth Test, Day one - as it happened

Hello, good morning and welcome to Sports Mole's live text commentary of day one of the fifth Ashes Test of the summer. Let's get straight down to business with the toss!

So Alastair Cook elects to bowl on a cloudy morning in South London. Michael Clarke, in his last international appearance, confirms that he would have bowled first too.

TEAM NEWS: England unsurprisingly name an unchanged side from the fourth Test win at Trent Bridge, with James Anderson still injured with a side strain. Australia have recalled all-rounder Mitchell Marsh for his brother Shaun, and veteran bowler Peter Siddle.

ENGLAND: Lyth, Cook, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Broad, Wood, Finn.

AUSTRALIA: Rogers, Warner, Smith, Clarke, Voges, M.Marsh, Nevill, Johnson, Starc, Siddle, Lyon.

Former Australia spinner Shane Warne is upset with Australia's team, and has criticised the selection of 30-year-old right-armer Peter Siddle. He was chosen ahead of Patrick Cummins, who, at 22, is seen at the future of the team.

A win in this Test would mark the first time England have ever won four Tests in an Ashes series at home. Australia have dealt out some heavy thrashings down the years, but it could be time for them to taste some of their own medicine.

Standing in their way this morning will be opening batsman Chris Rogers who, at 38, will retire from the team after this match. The left-hander has been outstanding since he broke into the team two years ago, and has scored more Ashes runs than any other player in that time.

Rogers will open the batting alongside the controversial David Warner, who has been named as the new vice-captain following this match. Warner will serve under new captain Steve Smith, who takes over from Michael Clarke.

WEATHER CHECK: Unless some rain surprisingly emerges, we should be set for a full day of cricket in dry conditions today. The heavy cloud is expected to hang around this morning, but the sun should poke through in the afternoon. It is a similar situation tomorrow, but there is a threat of rain on Saturday.

We're less than 10 minutes away now from play starting. How many runs can Australia score? Will they show some resilience and put up a fight, or will England's seam quartet run through them again? Stay tuned to find out!

The players are gathering at the top of steps as they prepare to make their way onto the turf. The Oval is at full capacity today, and most of the fans will expect plenty of wickets first up.

Stuart Broad has taken his jumper off, and is warming up to bowl. Rogers and Warner walk out to applause, and we're underway imminently.

Here we go....Broad is in to bowl to Rogers.

There is good carry early on for Broad, who starts from round the wicket. His line is a little wide for the first three deliveries and Rogers watches them harmlessly go by. There are four slips and a fine gully waiting for the edge, but they'll have to wait for now as Rogers calmly sees it out.

Mark Wood is handed the new ball from the other end, and he'll steam in to bowl at David Warner. The Durham man gets him playing right away with a straight ball, before Warner scores the first runs of the match with a push for two down the ground. Wood maintains a tight line, and Warner solidly blocks before earning a single off the final ball.

Warner gets his first look at Warner, and stays round the wicket to the left-hander. He keeps a line just outside off-stump, trying to entice Warner into the drive. The opener stays disciplined though, and Broad bowls his second maiden.

There is a hint of swing from Wood's first ball of the fourth over, which Rogers deflects down to fine leg for a single. Warner then wafts at the next ball outside off-stump, and is lucky not to edge it through to Buttler. A solid punch downs the ground brings two more, before Warner mistimes a pull shot for a single.

Broad's line goes a bit awry, and Warner dabs a single into the offside to score the first run of the day off England's senior bowler. Broad responds with a better ball outside off-stump, but Rogers plays inside the line. Not a lot of drama so far, which suits Australia quite well.

Wood almost catches Rogers out with some unexpected bounce, which sees the ball hit the shoulder the bat but bounce to safety. The next ball is a jaffer too, and beats the outside edge by inches. And again!! This time he does nick the ball, but it falls just short of the slips. Great stuff from Wood.

Broad is playing on Warner's patience again. You can see that the aggressive stroke-maker is desperate to slash at the ball outside off-stump, but he refrains for now. Broad bowls a beauty to end the over, which almost finds the edge. It's a battle of minds out here.

Wood struggles to find his line in this over, but Rogers is still unable to work the ball away. The left-hander has scored just one run of 21 balls so far, and that sums up the opening eight overs rather well.

Runs! For the first time in four overs, Australia add to the scoreboard as Warner works a shorter Broad ball through the off-side. Rogers still looks desperate to get bat on ball as he misses a pull shot. It's another over from Broad, but I wonder how long it will be until we see Steven Finn?

Wood has found a few hints of swing this morning, and he gets one to nip back into the pads of Warner. An LBW shout goes up, but the umpire dismisses it on length. Warner then throws the bat at a wide one but misses it completely, before he squirts the ball through the leg side for a single. Rogers then adds a single of his own to end the over.

Indeed we do see a bowling change, but it's Ben Stokes, rather than Steven Finn, who comes on for Stuart Broad. Stokes starts at a gentler pace than Broad, and Rogers almost batters him down the ground for a boundary but the Durham man gets a hand on the ball. A promising start from Stokes overall though, who kept the same tight line as Broad.

Steve Finn comes on at the other end in place of Wood, and Warner helps himself to a single straight away. Rogers matches him with a dab into the off-side, continuing the tourists's watchful start.

CLOSE! Stokes bowls a short and wide one, which Rogers eyes up. However, he almost nicks it through to Buttler. A couple of dot balls follow, before a short ball hits Rogers on the back and goes off for a leg bye. A jaffer ends the over, as Stokes brings Warner forward and almost finds the edge.

Finn continues to steam in, but his line isn't as accurate as Broad's or Wood's. Two singles come off the over, and it's time for a drinks break. Credit to Australia, they've knuckled down impressively this morning.

Stokes, like Wood before him, finds some swing as the sun breaks through the clouds. However, Warner adds two more to the total with a push through cover, before scoring he first boundary of the day with a well-timed pull shot. He digs another single out after a Stokes yorker, before Rogers also hits a boundary off a full ball.

After a quiet first hour, Australia look in the mood to score some runs after Warner tries an ambitious pull shot off a ball which isn't too short. He's lucky to get away with it as it lands safely in the deep. Finn responds with a super bouncer and Warner does well to get his glove out of the way in the nick of time. The second hour of this session looks like being far more interesting than the first.

Stokes is steaming in harder now, but he can't stop Rogers from cutting him away for another boundary, which takes the batsman into double figures. He almost gets his next time around as Rogers chases a full and wide one and comes soooooo close to nicking it, as England look as if their patience is running out.

Alastair Cook has been forced to push the field back a bit as Australia look to get on top. Singles are easier to come by for Rogers and Warner, making Finn change to around the wicket. The angle doesn't have an immediate affect though, as Rogers punches the ball to the boundary of the back foot. The run-rate has now reached the dizzy heights of 2.4.

More runs for Warner, who slaps the ball through the off-side for three of Ben Stokes. The bowler responds in style though, as he comes round the wicket and turns Rogers inside out with a beauty, which narrowly misses the edge. Rogers has shown himself to be vulnerable to the angle when a bowler comes round the wicket, and he's lucky to get away with it again as as leading edge misses the fielders. Warner then whips a boundary through the off-side to bring up the 50, but almost gets out next ball! It's all going on here, Another leading edge is just one yard short of the fielder at cover.

The Oval has a reputation for being receptive to spin, and Moeen Ali has a chance to demonstrate as he comes on in place of Finn. Rogers sits on the back foot and cuts away his first ball for four, before picking up two more with a flick through leg. There doesn't seem to be much spin for Ali so far, and Rogers watches the ball easily.

Super shot from Warner who crunches a pull shot to the boundary off Stokes, before he cuts another one for four. The runs are really flowing here, and it's been a far better display from Australia, which makes you wonder what happened at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.

Moeen switches to around the wicket to bowl at Rogers, who stays on the back foot. The left-handed veteran loves to play late through the off-side, but England have enough fielders to make sure he can score no runs. That's the first maiden we've seen for a while.

After a change of ends, Finn is back and comes on to replace Ben Stokes. CLOSE! Again, England are sooo close to their first of the day as Warner nicks a standard Finn delivery. However, once again, it drops inches short of Joe Root in the slips. He gets one to nip back into Warner's pads, but it's clearly too high for an LBW shout. A yorker finishes the over, and England have done well to dry up the runs.

Ali finds a bit of turn off the first ball of his latest over, but Rogers plays with soft hands and it goes straight down. Warner them slog-sweeps hard for four, and with no fielders in the deep it's a risk-free shot. Ali responds well with a jaffer which almost finds Rogers's edge, but there is still no wicket, just 10 minutes before lunch.

FIFTY! A firm punch through the off-side takes Warner to his half-century, and it's been a very impressive knock from the opener, who has been rather watchful today. Two more singles come off the over, and Australia continue to tick along nicely.

In the hope of finally finding a breakthrough, Cook turns to Stuart Broad for what could be the final over of the session. Rogers flicks the ball away for a single, before Warner also dabs one into the leg side. Two more follow as Broad's over reflects the atmosphere in the crowd: underwhelming.

LUNCH! We will get one over before lunch, and Finn is the man to bowl it as he steams in to Warner. The opener watches the first two sail past, before England's slip cordon jump up as Finn rattles Warner's pads. Nothing going there though, and Warner survives through to lunch.

That's a good session for Australia, who watched the ball very closely in the first hour. Warner accelerated after that and went on to his fifth 50 of the series. He hasn't converted any yet, so will he this afternoon? Join us in half an hour to find out.

Welcome back to The Oval. The afternoon session is minutes away from starting, as Australia look to pile on the runs after an encouraging start. Can England hit back? We're about to find out!

Both teams are back on the field and we're about to get underway!

Wood opens up as the session begins and, although he finds swing with his first ball, Rogers clips it away for three. He follows it up with a corker, which misses the bat of Warner by inches! The opener responds with a delicious cover drive for four, but Wood hits back again by beating the edge. Intriguing over.

Stuart Broad opens up from the other end, and is still not quite finding the ideal line and length. It's probing, but not enough to entice a false shot. Rogers eventually bites and connects well, with a flashing cover drive.

There is definitely a positive intent from Australia in their early overs of this session, as Wood concedes another boundary to Warner. He comes round the wicket to Warner and that tightens things up eventually, but Australia are on top.

Broad needs to restrict the run-flow here, and opts for a different angle as he comes round the wicket. It works well until he over-pitches the last ball of the over, and Rogers cashes in with a cover drive for four. That brings up the 100, and it looks like there could be a few more to come.

Wood and Cook change the field, and the bowler darts in with some short stuff. Rogers, fooled by the field and Wood's previous delivery, doesn't pick a full one, and it misses the bat by inches. Rogers responds with a delightful punch down the ground for another four, and he's edging closer to his own 50.

CLOSE! Rogers almost gets out after Broad bowls a slower ball. Rogers mistimes his shot, and almost bats it back to him. Agonisingly for England, it falls inches short of the bowler. Good, tidy over from Broad, who concedes just a single.

FINALLY! England get the breakthrough, and Chris Rogers is out for 43 in his final Test match! Wood bowled one a little short, and the batsman nicked it through to Cook, who caught it at the second time of asking. Steve Smith is the next man in, and gets off the mark immediately with a single.

So, Australia's next captain joins their next vice-captain at the crease. Warner hooks a boundary of Broad for four, but it's a risky shot with two men in the deep. Cook, sensing more wickets could follow, has three slips and a gully, but Smith clips another single to fine leg.

Smith wants to be aggressive, but Wood does well to contain him before he bowls too straight and Smith clips him away for two. The number three gets lucky with the final ball, and an inside edge goes back on to his pads, rather than the stumps.

Finn is on to replace Broad and keeps a tight line until a wide one hits the pads and trickles down for four. Smith has made just one meaningful contribution in this series, and a century would be a fine way to bring in the new era.

Wood's opening spell of this session comes to an end, as Ben Stokes is brought back for his seventh over. The crowd has just fallen a little flat again, but they're brought to their feet by a stellar piece of fielding from Stokes, who stops a Warner drive from flying to the boundary.

Finn continues to tie Smith down with some tight-line bowling, and it's fair to say that he looks uncertain. England have four slips in place, and they almost get lucky as the ball hits the withdrawn bat of Smith. He gets a single in the end,but he'll want to be more fluent than this.

Steve Smith is a lucky boy! Stokes swings the ball into his pads and an inside edge goes close to the stumps, but instead flies for four. A crunching shot from Warner is well saved by Moeen Ali, who will no doubt be needed at some stage this afternoon.

Again, an inside edge off the bat of Smith brings a single which takes him into double figures. Finn charges into Warner, but gets punched down the ground for another boundary. A overthrow gives the left-hander another single, but Smith again looks out of shape as he gets a leading edge on a Finn delivery.

You could hear a pin drop at The Oval today, much like you often can at Lord's. Is it a London thing, or the cricket on show? A single for both batsman sees the scoreboard tick along again.

There are four men in the slips, yet Smith still manages to edge it past all of them off a Finn delivery. Warner moves onto 80 with a single, as the runs continue to mount up. Time for some spin?

Alastair Cook must be reading our coverage, as he hears my call for Moeen Ali to bowl some spin. Warner greets him with a thumping drive for four, which split two close fielders perfectly. CLOSE! Moeen bowls a straight one which Warner doesn't pick and it wraps the pads. It's clearly drifting past the stump, but it provides some much needed encouragement for England.

Excellent fielding from Steven Finn, who gets down low to stop a fierce strike from Smith whistling past him to the boundary. He can't stop the next one, as Smith aims a bit wider and cracks it through mid-off. Shot of the day so far, that one. Cook has pushed the field back, making more singles easy to secure.

Big, big wicket for England, and Ali is the man who has it! Warner is too tempted by a flighted ball, and the nick is taken by Adam Lyth at slip.

Michael Clarke strolls out to the middle in his final Test match, and receives a standing ovation from the crowd. England also form a guard of honour for one of the great modern players. Clarke faces Ali first up, but almost gets out!! He tries to sneak one round the corner for a single, but hits it to the fielder and almost gets run out! He breaths a sigh of relief and gets off the mark next time around with a push for two.

So, the old combines with the new at the crease as current captain Clarke lines up opposite his successor Steve Smith. A single from Smith off Finn brings Clarke on strike, who runs a couple of leg byes.

Moeen is making things happen out here, as he gets spin and bounce to Smith, who almost gets an inside edge through to the man at silly mid-on. A single brings Clarke on strike. The right-hander has a poor record at The Oval, but tucks into Ali by whacking him over the top for four.

Broad comes back for his third spell of the day, mainly due to his stellar record against Clarke. He has to bowl at Smith straight away though, but the number three gets a single with an aggressive pull shot. Broad finds some in-sing for Clarke, but the skipper is equal to it with a firm defensive shot. A strong LBW shout is turned down, as Broad almost gets immediate success.

Ali is taken out of the firing line, as Mark Wood comes back for a spell before tea. Smith watches it gently swing by, allowing Clarke to get ready for Broad.

Clarke, who comes forward on the front foot, flicks Broad away for a couple before an edge down to third man brings three more. Boundaries have quietened down in the last few overs, as the game drifts towards tea.

Smith is demonstrating his excellent pull stroke, but England's men in the deep have it covered. Wood has arguably been England's best bowler so far, but the bounce he as getting earlier is starting to disappear.

Clarke does look a little bit more comfortable against Broad today than he has done so far in this series. A single brings Smith on strike, but a another perfect pull shot finds the fielder instead of the fence. That brings us to tea, with Australia still in firm control.

England will be happy to have taken two wickets, but Smith is surely the key man now. Get him, and the Aussie middle-order will be exposed again. T

For Australia, a lot of these batsman we're likely to see this afternoon are playing for their Test futures. Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh have struggled in this series, and could desperately do with a score.

Voges is scheduled to come in at five , followed by Marsh, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon.

After this match, there is a T20 and one-day series to come against Australia, but fear not Test fans. The Ashes holders (It feels good to say that) will be back in action in October, when they travel to the UAE to play Pakistan in a three-test series.

However, for now the focus is well and truly on this Test match, and the evening session is about to begin. Can Australia pile on the runs? Can Clarke go out in style? Or will England fight back?

Finn opens the bowling after tea and charges in to Steve Smith. The number three has played some marvellous strokes, but they all appear to be going to fielders, as a crisp mid-on drive is stopped. A flick to fine leg gets him a single, before Clarke also adds one.

REVIEW! Clarke is given out for nicking Stokes behind, but he's gone to a review...

In his last Test match, Clarke is out after getting the faintest of edges on a Stokes ball and he has to walk when snicko picks it up. Adam Voges is in now, can he show any sort of form?

Voges gets off the mark with a single to end the over.

Finn darts in to take on new man Voges, who works the fourth ball of the over away for a single. Smith, who is vital to this innings now, sees the over out. Nervy times for Australia after Smith almost picks out the man at gully.

Voges is a lucky man! Stokes thinks he has him LBW when the right-hander doesn't offer a shot, but it clearly goes over the top of the stumps. A couple of singles edge Australia closer to 200, but England are on top at the moment.

Strange shot from Smith, who lazily hoiks a ball narrowly over the in-field for a couple. But there is no doubt about the quality of his next shot as he cuts it away for four to bring up 200 for the tourists.

Stokes is being careful not to give Voges anything loose to hit, and the middle-order man looks nervous. He blocks well and watches others go by though, giving Stokes a maiden.

Finn hasn't quite found his range since tea, and so Cook turns back to Ali. However, Smith tucks into a wide one and smashes it for four, before backing that up with a single down the ground. Voges remains watchful, blocking out the rest of the over.

50! An excellent drive from Smith races along to the boundary and brings up his 13th Test half-century, off just 85 balls. He's looked comfortable out there since the early stages and can look forward to a big score, if he remains calm.

England get very excited as Smith pops one up in the air off Ali, which is caught. However, the umpire smiles and shakes his head and replays suggest that the ball was no where near the bat. Smith responds, by smacking Ali for six.

Two loose balls from Stokes, and two sweet fours from Adam Voges through the off-side. That should settle him down as he moves to 11. 27 overs left today, so plenty of time for runs and wickets.

Runs, and boundaries, are starting to flow as Smith belts Ali away for another four backwards of square on the off side. A single follow, before Voges also picks up one.

Wood comes back into the attack for the jaded Stokes, and already finds pace and bounce off the pitch as he beats the edge of Voges. The Aussie batter is a lucky man, as a leading edge goes straight up in the air but falls short of Wood charging in. Good over from Wood, who continues to threaten.

Crisp hitting from Smith and Voges, who rotate the strike with a couple of twos. Ali is conceding a few runs now, and Cook must be thinking about a change.

CLOSE! Smith, sitting pretty on 63, almost edges Wood through to slips but, once again, it falls just short. The rest of the over remains tight, until Smith belts a short and wide delivery to the fence.

Indeed Cook does take off Moeen Ali, and brings back Stuart Broad as clouds begin to gather over South London. Voges, who looks confident after facing 43 balls, picks up a single, before whipping away a in-swinger for four. Only Wood seems able to get anything out of this pitch, and sadly there could be some rain on the horizon.

Wood continues to pound in, delivers a jaffer to Voges and almost finds the edge. The pitch looks to have died a little though, and Australia will be confident of adding plenty of runs when they face anyone other than Wood. There is some light drizzle out there, but not enough to disrupt proceedings.

OUCH! Broad finds a bit of extra bounce and the ball hits the fingers of Voges, who moves them away in pain. He shown some metal today though, and he collects another boundary with a flick to fine leg. Time for a drinks break.

PLAY SUSPENDED! Smith moves on to 71 with a single off Wood, who then tries to attract Voges into pushing hard outside off-stump like he has done often in this series. Nothing going there though, although the umpires have noticed the rain is considerably harder. Yep, they've taken them off until this passes.

We need play to start again by 6pm, otherwise it will be suspended. However, there are positive signs as blue skies approach The Oval, suggesting this is just a shower.

This break is probably quite welcome for England, as the game has just started to slip away in the last hour. Smith and Voges look comfortable and the bowlers look tired.

The fourth umpire, Michael Gough, is currently out on the pitch monitoring conditions, which suggests that the game could resume shortly...hopefully.

Indeed, the covers are now coming off...

The umpires are off to tell the players to get ready and play should be back underway shortly.

In fact, play will begin in 15 minutes...Surely it doesn't take that long to sort things out?

It seems that it does, with an official announcement coming through that play will start at 5.50pm.

This is quite unbelievable. The sun is now starting to break through at The Oval, yet still the players aren't coming out. Crazy.

Alas, the players have made their way back out. Wood will bowl the final ball of his over.

So, Wood steams in, Voges is on strike and he watches it go through to the keeper. England have nine overs to go until the new ball.

Steven Finn is given the ball up the other end, and hits Steve Smith's pads. Finn lets go and almighty roar as he appeals, but the umpire says no. Alastair Cook, perhaps excited by something close, signals a review, but it's clearly missing down the leg side. Voges then flicks the ball to the boundary down the leg side, before an edge also goes for four. Finn looks very frustrated, and who can blame him?

It's been a long day in the field for England's men but Joe Root shows plenty of concentration and athleticism with an excellent one-handed save from Smith. That ensures a maiden, and you sense they're waiting for the new ball now.

Australia survive again! Smith goes really hard at a full ball from Finn and nicks it, but it misses Ian Bell by inches and goes for four. That only seems to make Finn angrier, but his short-ball next time around is pulled for a single by Smith.

Ben Stokes is warming up on the sidelines and looks set to come on for a bowl shortly, as Wood surges in to bowl at Smith around the wicket. Root shows off some more excellent fielding as he stops a lighting fast Smith shot racing to the fence.

Another edge off the bowling of Fin, but yet again it goes well wide of the slips. It's really not Finn's day. He keeps plugging away, but to no avail as Voges leaves the ball outside off-stump until he dabs a single into the leg side .

Stokes is thrust into the spotlight as he replaces Wood, but he struggles with his line as he bowls too far outside off-stump. The atmosphere is currently resembling that of a library, until a half-hearted appeal goes up for a catch in the slips, but Voges clearly hits the ground first.

Light could have an affect here as it's getting noticeably darker. The floodlights are all on, but it's not certain how much longer we can play for. Meanwhile, Finn beats the edge of Voges yet again. He's been made to wait along time for this 100th Test wicket. Voges rubs salt into the wound with a tremendous shot for four off his pads to complete the over.

Stokes calms fears that he has a shoulder problem as he continues to pile in, just two overs away from the new ball, which Stuart Broad and Mark Wood are waiting for. Voges edges closer to his 50, with a powerful pull-stroke for four. Excellent shot.

100 Partnership! Important knock this from Smith and Voges, and the former brings up the 100 partnership with a single.

CLOSE OF PLAY! The umpires bring an end to the day as the light is to bad for them to continue, much to Cook's dismay. But he'll be back tomorrow, and with a new ball in his palms he can remain optimistic.

What a good day it's been for Australia! When Alastair Cook put them into bat, it could have gone badly like it did at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, but David Warner, Steven Smith and Adam Voges have steered them to a good total. They can expect to get 400 from here.

However, that is it from me today. Make sure you join us tomorrow for live coverage of day two, as England aim for a 4-1 Ashes win. Thanks for joining me, and have a good night.