Panesar dropped for final Ashes Test

England have won the toss and will bat first in the decisive fifth Ashes Test at The Oval.

With the series level at 1-1, England's captain, Andrew Strauss, announced that Graham Onions would make way for Andrew Flintoff with Monty Panesar and Ryan Sidebottom also missing out.

Strauss said he was happy that his team will bat first. "It's what we wanted to do – the wicket looks like a good one to bat on so we've got the opportunity to put a good score on the board. We thought about playing Panesar but we didn't think it would turn too much here."

Jonathan Trott will make his Test debut at No5, with Paul Collingwood moving to No4 and Ian Bell to No3.

Australia have named an unchanged side with Ricky Ponting resisting the temptation to select the specialist spinner Nathan Hauritz.

"The surface looks reasonably dry so our fast bowlers will have to do well early on," said the Australian captain. "We've gone with the four-man pace attack so hopefully our part-time spinners can do well for us here."

(PIC: Matt Sprake/NEWSPICS)