The Ashes

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Jacob Bethell found some form in Australia with 71 before Glamorgan 21-year-old Asa Tribe scored 114 not out for England Lions against Australia A in Brisbane.

Batting with a massive first-innings deficit of 422 after the Australians dominated the first two days, Bethell and Tribe put on 169 for the fourth wicket in a show of some defiance.

Bethell is most likely to replace any of England's struggling Test batters in the Ashes, given he is the one spare batter in the full squad, but had only passed 50 once in his previous nine innings this winter.

Batting at number three, he dug in for 154 balls and hit seven fours against a strong attack before he flicked seamer Fergus O'Neill to mid-wicket.

Tribe, a full international with Jersey who hopes to play for England, carried on to record his third first-class century and the first by any of the Lions batters on tour.

The right-hander has made a quick rise in recent months, having made 122 not out, an unbeaten 131 and 206 for Glamorgan in the final two months of the county season.

He put on 74 with Somerset batter Thomas Rew, who made 47 on his first-class debut.

The Lions ended on 274-6, still 148 runs behind.

• Scorecard

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Unsurprisingly, the Australian media have been delighting in England's woes as they face defeat in the second Ashes Test in Brisbane.

The West Australian dubbed the tourists, external "slow learners" after they suffered a number of familiar dismissals.

Elsewhere in the paper, they mocked, external "same old England, despite their bluster."

In the Sydney Morning Herald, they deemed Ben Stokes' side to be on "life support", external after they closed the third day on 134-6, needing 43 runs to make Australia bat again.

Meanwhile the Brisbane Courier Mail has Bazball "on the brink"., external

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Nathan McSweeney made an unbeaten double century as Australia A utterly dominated the second day of their unofficial Test with England Lions.

The 26-year-old, who played three Tests as an opener in late 2024, finished the day on 222 with his side on 554-7 and holding a first innings lead of 388 after they bowled out the Lions for 166 on day one.

The second-string captain batted the entire day, resuming on 40 having come in at number three, and his team piled on 399 runs over the course of Saturday's play.

Shoaib Bashir, on secondment from England's Ashes party, has figures of 0-115 from 25 overs, while seamers Nathan Gilchrist and Josh Hull took three wickets apiece but conceded 102 and 103 runs respectively.

Cooper Connolly (88) and Xavier Bartlett (83) also made half-centuries at Allan Border Field.