Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

England are lacking two match winners, James Anderson and Ben Stokes.

There are a few question marks about England so if Jimmy Anderson was 60% I'd have wheeled him out there.

James Sale: Young? Sure. Impressionable? Yes. Forgiven? Let's see what the Lords' reaction to Muhammad Amir is.

Tony: On a controversy filled cricket day like today we should calm things with that age old question, "Would you like a jelly baby?"

Edward Payne: A big day for England's bowling attack without Anderson, will be interesting to see how they get on.

So, what do you make of that? A good toss for Pakistan to win? And what do you think about the England team? Are you pleased to see Gary Ballance back in the side? Excited to get a look at Jake Ball? I'm also sure that the presence of Mohammad Amir will stir some strong feelings.

Text 81111, tweet using the hashtag #bbccricket, external or email tms@bbc.co.uk.

Pakistan: Hafeez, Masood, Azhar, Younus, Misbah, Shafiq, Sarfraz, Wahab, Amir, Yasir, Rahat.

England: Cook, Hales, Root, Vince, Ballance, Bairstow, Moeen, Woakes, Broad, Finn, Ball.

Image source, Getty Images

Pakistan, by the way, line-up with three left-arm quicks. Jake Ball, lanky and blond, was given his England cap by wicketkeeping coach Bruce French, who also happens to be his uncle. We'd all like an Uncle Bruce, wouldn't we?

Alastair Cook speaking at the toss: "It is going to be hard work for us but it looks a really good wicket.

"We have seen Jake (Ball) now for two months and he is a really good bowler and I think he will be glad we are bowling to get it done.

"Of course you want someone with 450 wickets in the team (James Anderson) but the selectors have decided he wasn’t fit enough.

"They're a really good side and it is going to be a really good battle."

Misbah-ul-Haq speaking at the toss: "It looks a good pitch and the sun is out so it is good weather to bat first.

"We are playing all three left-armers, our best three bowlers.

"Obviously Amir has been really working hard, bowling well. His attitude has been good and he really wants to prove to everybody.

"All our batsmen are really playing well. They have been tackling the swinging ball well and are confident. That is ideal preparation."

There is a touch of grass on the track, so there might be something in it - Alastair Cook says that was he's hoping for. The skip does say he would have batted first, mind.

Misbah-ul-Haq, wearing an incredibly handsome beard, calls tails and smiles when it comes down his way. If you did bet your Auntie on the winning skipper batting first, she's safe. It also means we'll get an early look at England debutant Jake Ball. 

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

This has a feel of a tremendous series.

Pakistan look a very committed, together, united team.

They have got plenty of match winners, particularly the bowlers so can their engine room, Misbah and Younis Khan, produce the runs?

Jonathan Agnew
BBC Test Match Special

This is a series to relish. Pakistan come in with a very good reputation indeed.

BBC Test Match Special

Before that, TMS is hitting the airwaves. Jonathan Agnew, in what I'm reliably informed is his 300th Test, is leading the team in St John's Wood.

Not only can you listen right here, but you can also watch the highlights as they happen. Multi-platform is what they call it.

HQ is bathed in sunshine, a perfect morning for cricket. The deck? There have been no positive results in the County Championship or the one Test played here this summer. Bet your Aunt Gladys that the skipper who wins the flick will bat first. Toss to come shortly...

Tom Fordyce
Chief sports writer at Lord's

Image source, PA

Series between England and Pakistan, whatever else they might bring, are never dull: faked kidnappings, rows with umpires, libel cases, refusals to play and, six years ago, the daddy of them all: spot-fixing, on a summer's day just like this, at the spiritual home of cricket. What sort of reception can we expect for Mohammad Amir, whose longest spells since his last game here were spent at Feltham and Portland Young Offenders Institutes?

They are the headlines, but there are deeper stories and subplots to be revealed over the next five days and four Tests.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

For England, Gary Ballance. A surprise selection in an England batting line-up that is playing the world's longest game of musical chairs.

Ballance is back on the ground where he played his last Test, almost a year ago.

Has he altered that huge backwards-step trigger movement, or simply mastered it?

Image source, Reuters

The first (and let's get this out of the way early doors) is Mohammad Amir.

Six years on from the indiscretion that shifted cricket's tectonic plates.

The crime well-documented, the punishment served in solitude.

A return to the same venue, reformed and remorseful. By all accounts, his bowling is better than ever.

Image source, Getty Images

The altered returners? They are on both sides. Both divisive, but for different reasons.