England have opted to bat on the opening day of the first Ashes Test after winning the toss over Australia at Trent Bridge.

Captain Alastair Cook and his Aussie counterpart Michael Clarke took to the field for the toss just minutes after it emerged that Ashton Agar will make his Ashes debut for Australia after just 10 first-class matches.

"We're going to have a bat first," Cook told Sky Sports News. "It's a pretty dry pitch, a bit of overhead trim might swing early, but hopefully on this wicket we can put a good score on the board straight away."

While England have opted for Steven Finn ahead of Tim Bresnan, Australia have left out David Warner in favour of Steven Smith.