England captain Ben Stokes took both wickets, including Test hopeful Jacob Bethell, in the first session of the team’s internal Ashes warm-up against the Lions at Lilac Hill.
Stokes, playing for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury against India in July, looked sharp on his return as Andrew Flintoff’s Lions won 116-2 at lunch in Perth.
Stokes caught Tom Haines on middle in the first of his six-over spell and then removed Bethell. Bethell saw his hopes of ousting Ollie Pope in the series opener disappear with two unconvincing knocks from 17 balls.
His innings ended with a mistake in timing a short ball at the right angle and he looks set to resume his status as a batting reserve with a slender white-ball tour of New Zealand behind him.
Durham’s opener Ben McKinney took the fight to England through the opening session, hitting 67 not out on a soft-playing surface.
As for their intentions for the series opener at the Optus Stadium on November 21, England named an all-round attack comprising Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Josh Tongue and Stokes.
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Stokes sent a message to his inexperienced team-mates that The Ashes would be ‘different’ but that there was ‘nothing to be afraid of’.
Brydon Carse is out due to illness, but could play in the later three-day match to kill time in between.
Jofra Archer was the neatest of the bowlers on display, conceding just 17 runs from six overs, while Wood, who has been inactive for the last nine months, picked up some decent pace in four-over bursts.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir is one of five senior players on loan to the Lions and will get a chance to stake his claim in the second innings.
Play resumed after lunch.
More to follow…
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Stokes said England had done everything possible to prepare for the first Ashes Test against Australia from November 21 after criticism of the tourists’ preparations.
Ashes series 2025-26 in Australia
Always UK and Ireland
- First test: Friday, November 21st ~ Tuesday, November 25th (2:30 AM) – Optus Stadium, Perth
- Second test (day/night): Thursday, December 4 – Monday, December 8 (4:30 am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third test: Wednesday, December 17th ~ Sunday, December 21st (12am) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth test: Thursday, December 25 – Monday, December 29 (11:30 PM) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth test: Sunday, January 4 – Thursday, January 8 (11:30 PM) – Sydney Cricket Ground
