England elect to bat in first test

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) England won the toss and elected to bat in the first test against Pakistan at Lord's today.

Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard, who needed six stitches in his right hand after he was spiked by a team mate last Saturday was passed fit to play.

Batsman Younis Khan dropped out of the Pakistan team today with a knee injury and opening batsman Shoaib Malik has failed to recover from a elbow injury.

The weather was overcast and warm and the pitch firm and dry with some traces of green.

Teams: England - Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell Geraint Jones, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Monty Panesar.

Pakistan - Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Kamram Akmal, Mohamnad Sami, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria.

Umpires: Steve Bucknor (Jamaica) and Simon Taufel.(Australia) REUTERS DH BD1542