A juicy green Lord’s strip is expected to offer bowlers significantly more encouragement than they got in the Ashes series opener, but Mitchell Starc does not know whether that will open the door for his Test return.

Both team’s bowlers will be decidedly more upbeat after viewing the surface prepared for the second Test. Even presuming a few millimetres of grass are shaved off before Wednesday, the pitch is certain to be harder work for batters than the flat track at Edgbaston.

A dry, hot spell of weather in London has groundstaff wary of ensuring their surface holds together for five days. The subtle influence of England bowlers publicly declaring their desire for a more lively track may also be a factor, suggested Starc.

Veteran Jimmy Anderson, writing for the UK Telegraph, labelled the Birmingham surface as his kryptonite and said “if all the pitches are like that I’m done in the Ashes series”, while fellow quick Ollie Robinson wrote in Wisden that “with the way (Australia) are playing at the moment, a pitch with a bit more movement would benefit us hugely”.

Asked if he was surprised by how green the Lord’s pitch was two days out from the second Test getting underway, Starc said: “Probably not a surprise after some of the comments from last week and the nature of that (Edgbaston) wicket.

“We’ll play on what we’re given in a couple of days’ time.”

England have vowed to come even harder at Australia if conditions are tipped in the bowlers’ favour.

“We know that Lord’s, depending on the overheads, can be slightly tough sometimes to bat,” said top-order batter Ollie Pope.

“And sometimes for us as a batting unit that might mean we have to put even more pressure on the bowler if it’s a bowler-friendly surface.

“It just depends on the situation … Each player knows how they want to go about it – build an innings and score big runs, and conditions can tinker that slightly.”

Starc was left out of the first Ashes Test with Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood preferred to partner Pat Cummins, with coach Andrew McDonald later conceding the left-armer would have been a handy inclusion in their narrow two-wicket victory.

England in particular went after Boland at Edgbaston and could now be in line to make for Starc, but the Victorian has been a major weapon on seaming surfaces before.

Australia have made no secret of their intention to rotate their fast bowlers on their UK tour, which Starc suggested had softened the blow of his axing for the first Test.

“I’m used to it now coming to England,” said a smiling Starc, referring to being overlooked for all but one of Australia’s Ashes Tests in 2019.

“It’s a squad mentality, much the same as last time. We’ve got a great set of bowlers not just in this squad but a couple of other guys playing county cricket.

“It’s a very, very short Ashes crammed into the space of seven weeks. We knew it was going to be hard work for anyone to play all the games. We’ve all taken that approach and will for the rest of the Test matches.”

If Starc plays, England’s uber-aggressive top-order will no doubt back themselves to take down the man who is typically Australia’s least economical quick.

But the hosts’ belligerence will provide wicket-taking opportunities for the 33-year-old.

That dynamic played out even against the more conservative Indian team during the World Test Championship final against India earlier this month; Starc went at more than five runs per over, but picked up the key scalp of Virat Kohli in the first innings with a vicious lifting delivery as one of his four wickets for the match.

Starc admitted he was not at his best in that Test.

“I came into that game feeling pretty good, but then my rhythm wasn’t quite there,” he said.

“It’s been a good couple of weeks of work to get back into that rhythm.

“We were all better for the run after that Test final at The Oval and I certainly feel less clunky than I did throughout the game.

“Hopefully that results in some good stuff if and when I play. It’s all in good order, it’s just about getting some time in the middle when the time comes.”

England have their own decisions to make regarding their bowling attack and much will centre on whether Moeen Ali can play after leaving Birmingham with a badly-calloused spinning finger.

The off-spinner bowled for around 20 minutes in the nets on Monday to suggest he is not completely out of contention. Leg-spinning allrounder Rehan Ahmed has been called in as cover, but is still a teenager and it would be a bold call to blood him in an Ashes Test.

If Moeen is not right, the hosts may prefer to go with four fast bowlers instead. Joe Root’s steady performance with the ball at Edbgaston, bowling part-time off-breaks, may encourage that approach.

“I think Mo is all good,” said Pope. “It was pretty unfortunate what happened and hopefully in the next few days he’ll look after himself and hopefully he’s fit to play.”

Asked if a spinner is essential at Lord’s, Pope said: “It depends what the wicket looks like.

“At Lord’s sometimes it can be bowler friendly and we’ve seen the role over the last year the role that ‘Leachy’ (injured spinner Jack Leach) played in bowler-friendly conditions.

“So I think it’s a great option to have.”

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood