Ben Stokes and Rory Burns were the pick of the batters as England concluded their final warm-up match against England Lions ahead of the Ashes; Joe Root’s side have seen their preparations hit by rain with only two full days of play possible across two tune-up games
Last Updated: 03/12/21 8:17am
Ben Stokes backed up his two wickets on Thursday by scoring 42 runs from 56 balls in England’s final warm-up match ahead of the Ashes against England Lions in Brisbane.
The Lions made 226-4 at Wellington Point in Queensland, with England responding during Friday’s final day with Stokes’s contribution and 37 more from opener Rory Burns, both left-handers retired not out.
Chris Woakes took an early wicket for the Lions as Haseeb Hameed fell for seven, while Dawid Malan and Joe Root also departed for single-figure scores of eight and nine respectively.
Jonny Bairstow was dismissed first ball and Jos Buttler second before the game became more akin to middle practice late on with a number of players batting twice and some swapping sides.
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That allowed James Anderson the opportunity to bowl again and he proceeded to strike twice in two balls, while Mark Wood also claimed a wicket.
England’s final day of practice cricket in Brisbane descended into “farcical tour match” territory with plenty of players batting twice, swapping teams etc, to the extent that a scorecard may or may not emerge. But given the weather they’ve had, any cricket will do…
England and Australia’s preparations for the five-Test series, which begins at the Gabba on December 8, have been undermined by rain.
England’s three-day practice match last week was washed out except for 29 overs and the first two days of the second warm-up against the Lions were also cancelled without a ball bowled.