The Ashes

Stephan Shemilt
Chief Cricket Reporter at Lilac Hill

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England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett piled on the runs on the second morning of the Ashes warm-up against England Lions in Perth.

The pair moved England to 169-0 from only 27 overs in reply to the Lions' 382 all out.

On a run-filled, docile pitch at Lilac Hill, left-hander Duckett reached 83 from 82 balls and Crawley 71 from 87.

Duckett came through a number of alarms early in his innings, all off new-ball bowler Matthew Potts, who is in the Ashes squad but playing for the Lions.

On six, Duckett edged between Ben McKinney at first slip and Jacob Bethell at second, a catch McKinney should have taken. Duckett also slashed Potts through the cordon on 18 and 24.

Duckett could also have been run out on 55, but Will Jacks' throw from the covers missed the stumps at the striker's end.

Shoaib Bashir, England's first-choice Ashes spinner, looked rusty in two overs that cost 11 runs. Fellow off-spinner Jacks, also in the Ashes squad, bowled one over that went for six.

Mark Wood is at the ground and will have a scan on a tight hamstring later on Friday, while fellow fast bowler Brydon Carse has recovered from the illness that prevented him from taking part on Thursday.

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With the Ashes now just eight days away, we have been asking who you think will be the key players on either side.

The Test Match Special team will give their choices next week but here is a selection from BBC Sport readers on social media:

Jon Weedon: Don't laugh but, for me, Zak Crawley. The better the bowling, the better he plays and I have a feeling this is the series he repays the faith shown in him.

Alex Mc: Brydon Carse - tends to like bowling with the kookaburra and could be pretty handy with the bat. Feel like that number eight spot is open now Woakes has retired. Australia will have three number 11s. England could have an advantage by batting deeper.

Steve Lilley: Josh Tongue for England if they're brave enough to play him. He is tailor made for those pitches. All he needed to do was add a bit of consistency from the summer. Perfect, horrible length when he's on it.

Same old same old for Australia, going to be all about getting Smith out or drying him up. I think they'll pack the leg side and bowl at his stumps. Well, that's what I would do...

Mangesh Deore: Always and always Joe Root. Fantastic player, treat to watch. I am an Indian supporter and he has tormented us but you just love the guy! You almost feel happy when does well.. so "want" him to have an impact.

From Australia.. it might just be Josh Hazelwood. That guy is special and might make an impact if stays fit.

Simon Clarke: I think whoever performs better between the two wicketkeepers could be a defining factor in the series. Jamie Smith is immensely talented but looked fatigued towards the end of the India series due to adjusting to keeping for multiple days in multiple tests. Seeing how he copes with the Australian conditions will be interesting.

Capitalising on and decisively taking opportunities when they present themselves, I think will be hugely important.

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Steve Smith believes England may have picked the wrong bowlers for the Ashes, suggesting Australian wickets will be better suited to seam and swing than an all-out pace attack.

The tourists are relying on extreme pace, led by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, for the five-Test series, with Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue also in the squad.

Almost all of them can deliver balls touching 90mph but most are not seen as traditional seamers.

Smith, who will captain Australia in the first Test in Perth next week with Pat Cummins injured, said the wickets could better suit bowlers like James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Smith's assessment came after playing Sheffield Shield matches at the Gabba in Brisbane and Sydney Cricket Ground, where he was in fine touch with the bat

"It's different on the wickets now," Smith said.

"I mean, those sort of nibblers (seamers) can be quite tricky. So they might have got things the wrong way around, if that makes sense, in terms of the pace, from previous years.

"Obviously, they've got those guys at their disposal now. They probably weren't fit and ready, or old enough, maybe, a few years back.

"Sometimes the slower guys are almost harder to play on those wickets where you have to make the pace, but yeah, we'll wait and see, won't we?"

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All-rounder Cameron Green caught the eye with a hard-fought 94 as Australia's cricketers continued their Ashes preparations in the Sheffield Shield.

Green, who could bat at number three in the first Test on 21 November, struck eight fours and a six in his 172-ball knock, which was brought to an end when he was pinned lbw by Queensland's Michael Neser on day three of the four-day match.

The 26-year-old then bowled another eight tidy overs in the field, to go with the eight overs he bowled in Queensland's first innings.

Western Australia have a good chance of victory on the final day, with the visitors closing just 255 runs ahead with two wickets in hand, despite Matthew Renshaw, another Test hopeful, following his first-innings 101 with a half-century.

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Ben Stokes' impressive return to action continued with two more wickets in the afternoon session on the first day of England's Ashes warm-up game against England Lions in Perth.

Stokes, in his first game since July because of a shoulder injury, added to the two he claimed in the morning session for figures of 4-45 in the Lions' 208-5.

Just as in the morning, both of Stokes' afternoon wickets fell to pull shots. England Lions' Jordan Cox stood out for 53 before shovelling Stokes to long leg, where Rehan Ahmed was also caught for 16.

After the Lions began the session on 116-2, Josh Tongue had opener Ben McKinney caught behind shortly after lunch for 67.

On a warm day at Lilac Hill, England chose to bowl to get time in the field before the first Test against Australia at Optus Stadium on 21 November.

Mark Wood, returning after nine months out with a knee injury, bowled a second four-over spell of the day, while Jofra Archer looked lively in a burst to Will Jacks.

Jacks is part of the Ashes squad but playing for the Lions in this game and was unbeaten on 28 at tea. Thomas Rew, the promising 17-year-old from Somerset, is on seven.

Stephan Shemilt
Chief Cricket Reporter at Lilac Hill

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Captain Ben Stokes took two wickets in his first outing since July on the first morning of England's Ashes warm-up against England Lions in Perth.

The all-rounder, returning after suffering a shoulder injury in the home summer, took both wickets to fall as the Lions moved to 116-2 in 26 overs.

On a sluggish pitch at Lilac Hill, Stokes struck with his fifth delivery, having Lions captain Tom Haines pull to mid-on for 20.

Jacob Bethell, batting at number three, failed to pressure Ollie Pope for a place in the Test side. Bethell spent 15 balls on nought before swiping Stokes to Jofra Archer at square leg.

As well as the encouragement of Stokes' six overs, England were boosted by the return of Mark Wood, bowling in a match for the first time since February following knee surgery. Wood reached pace in excess of 90mph in his four overs.

Lions opener Ben McKinney, heavily touted as an England prospect, reached 67 not out, while white-ball international Jordan Cox was unbeaten on 20.

Jofra Archer looked lively in his six-over opening burst and there were also spells for Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue. Joe Root, England's only spin option in the absence of Shoaib Bashir, bowled two overs.

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Stephan Shemilt
Chief Cricket Reporter at Lilac Hill

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England have potentially dropped a hint to their plans for the first Ashes Test by leaving spinner Shoaib Bashir out of the XI for their only warm-up match.

The tourists have named four frontline pace bowlers alongside all-rounder Ben Stokes in their attack for the three-day match against England Lions at Lilac Hill.

Spin has had a diminished role in Tests played in Australia over the past 10 years and Optus Stadium, the venue for the first Test, is particularly suited to seam bowlers.

In what could be close to the XI for the Ashes opener, fast bowler Mark Wood plays his first cricket since February following knee surgery.

Brydon Carse misses the opening day through illness, so his place in the England team has been taken by Josh Tongue. Carse has been named in the Lions' 13-man side, so could join the game later.

As expected, Ollie Pope will bat at number three for England, leaving him in pole position to fill the same role in the first Test. Jacob Bethell is at three for the Lions, who are batting first.

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Marc Higginson
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

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The main debate around England's batting line-up for the first Ashes Test against Australia in Perth next week is who bats at number three.

Ollie Pope is the man in possession and assistant coach Marcus Trescothick has suggested that will remain the case when the first Test gets under way on 21 November.

However, some favour the claims of Jacob Bethell who scored his maiden professional century against South Africa in September.

Bethell, 22, has played four Tests since making his debut and BBC Sport asked CricViz to look at his non-boundary strike-rate to figure out his overall effectiveness with regards strike rotation - a perceived weakness.

If you consider all the deliveries he has faced in Tests and exclude the boundaries he has scored, Bethell has a strike-rate of 23.4.

In comparison in the same timeline, Harry Brook and Ben Duckett are striking at 44.9 and 42.0, excluding their boundary shots.

If we push the timeline back to since Brendon McCullum took over as the head coach of England's Test team, Bethell's non-boundary strike-rate is still the lowest of all top seven batters in the timeline, behind the likes of Alex Lees and Ben Foakes.

Pope is fourth of all those batters, with a non-boundary strike-rate of 38.4, behind Brook, Duckett and Joe Root.

A small detail but one which Bethell will be keen to improve.

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England captain Ben Stokes has defended criticism of his team's Ashes build-up, referring to those who have questioned the fact they are only playing one in-house warm-up game as "has-beens".

Criticism of England's preparation has come from former captains Lord Botham, Michael Vaughan and Graham Gooch.

Botham said it "borders on arrogance", Vaughan called it a "huge risk" and Gooch labelled it "glorified practice".

BBC Sport readers have been having their say on social media. Here's some of their selected comments from BBC Cricket's Instagram account:

Leon Hickman: "I love his confrontational approach most of the time but you don't need to do it against those that have your back - especially in Australia."

Dominic Charters: "Surprising and disappointing. You need all of the old guard onside when touring down there, especially in the media."

Tom Sizeland: "Why not play a four-day game against them (the Lions) and play to a proper match situation? It's their only tour game - not sure why they wouldn't just ensure the batters/bowlers get the necessary hours in."

Colin Armstrong: "How about this - England try something different and win The Ashes. Simple."

You can continue the debate on Instagram, external, Facebook, external and by using #bbccricket on X.

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Steve Smith maintained his good form before the Ashes but could not prevent New South Wales being thrashed by Victoria as Josh Hazlewood sat out the third day of the Sheffield Shield match.

Smith countered a lively pitch to make a defiant 56 not out as NSW, set 426 to win, collapsed to 125 all out to be beaten by 300 runs.

Opener Sam Konstas, who made 27, was the only other batter to make more than 13 and Smith has scores of 118, 57 and 56 not out in three innings this winter.

With 14 of Australia's Test squad playing in the Shield this week, Hazlewood suffering an injury scare and NSW team-mate Sean Abbott being ruled out of the first Test against England with injury, their other concern for the Ashes hosts on Wednesday came from another low score for key middle-order batter Travis Head.

The 31-year-old, who will have no further time in the middle before next week's Test in Perth, followed nine in the first innings with 15 in the second as South Australia fell to defeat against Tasmania.

He began the season playing for Australia's white-ball sides but had one score above 30 and four single-figure returns.

Head has only reached 40 once in his past 20 innings across formats in a run going back to June.

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Josh Hull is hoping to give England's Ashes batters a thorough workout in this week's warm-up match in Perth and insisted England Lions are not there to play the Test side into form.

Head coach Brendon McCullum has opted against any tour matches against local opposition ahead of the marquee series, taking preparations in-house with a three-day clash against Andrew Flintoff's second string at Perth's Lilac Hill (13 November, 02:00 GMT).

The standard of domestic opponents has not always been reliable and England are banking on Thursday's fixture being enough before the first Test at Optus Stadium on 21 November.

And Hull, a once-capped seamer who at the age of 21 remains firmly on the radar, is hoping to do his bit by making life hard.

The 6ft 7in left-armer, who was handed a surprise international debut in 2024 after only a handful of first-class games, said: "For England you want the batters to be in good form and whacking it about but once you get into the battle, my job as a bowler is trying to take wickets for the Lions.

"There's obviously two sides to it but my main job is to get those guys out. You want them to have a good run out and feel good but we'll play our part by being really competitive.

"We've got some big names to bowl at, be it (Joe) Root or (Harry) Brook or the two openers who can be really difficult to bowl at. It's a great test for us and it's really exciting.

"Hopefully I can get a bit more out of the pitches than I do at home, they're a lot bouncier and that could be really helpful."

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Ben Duckett says England captain Ben Stokes has gone into "beast mode" as the Ashes series in Australia nears.

Stokes has been sidelined since late July with a shoulder injury but he is expected to be fit to lead England in their first Test against Australia, starting on 21 November in Perth.

"We've been out here for a few days and he's been in beast mode," opening batter Duckett told the Willow Talk podcast.

"He's been running, bowling two spells, batting for two hours. The way he trains these days is something I've never seen before. He's an absolute beast.

"He's probably the most important man in this side when he's bowling so hopefully he stays fit for all five Tests and he's bowling in all of them because he's crucial for us."

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Legendary former all-rounder Lord Botham has suggested England should pick four frontline fast bowlers in the first Ashes Test against Australia.

Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts are all in England's squad alongside all-rounder and captain Ben Stokes.

Picking four quicks would likely mean omitting spinner Shoaib Bashir.

"I think the West Indies did pretty well with four pace bowlers - and another six waiting to get in," said Botham, who played 102 Tests between 1977 and 1992.

"I think it's the right way.

"You want to be aggressive, you want the ball to come through. Players who aren't in good form don't like it in the ribs, so it will be interesting."

Botham also name-checked Durham pace bowler Carse, who has taken 36 wickets in nine Tests but is yet to play in an Ashes series.

"I think Carse might surprise a few of you," Botham told reporters in Melbourne.

"He's a very aggressive bowler and he's got enough pace to make you hop around a bit. He can bat a bit as well."