Nottinghamshire groundsman Steve Birks has said that he expects the ball to swing when England meet Australia in the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge this week.

The type of pitches that have been prepared has been a talking point in this series, with England accused of asking for slow pitches to be made in order to nullify Australia's pace attack.

However, Birks insists that the pitch at Trent Bridge will hold plenty of pace and bounce.

He told The Telegraph: "It's too early at this stage to tell exactly what it's going to look like on Thursday, but at the moment I'm quite happy with it. There has been a lot of rain, particularly for the time of year, but now it's starting to warm up a bit so hopefully we're just hitting it right.

"It looks a good surface, we will decide how much grass to take off it later on, but we are aiming for decent pace and carry. At Trent Bridge it's also a lot about the overhead conditions because, unless the whole game is played under blue sky, I expect that the ball will swing."

England currently lead the series 2-1.