Stokes Claims 6 Scalps in English Test Series Warm-up

Tour game, Perth venue (day one of three)

England Lions 382: Will Jacks 84, Ben McKinney 67; Ben Stokes 6-52

National team: awaiting batting

Ben Stokes produced 6 scalps in his first action after July but England faced an fitness worry regarding Mark Wood on the opening day of their Ashes warm-up versus the development squad in Western Australia.

Stokes, making his comeback after approximately four months out with a shoulder problem, bowled sixteen overs across three bowling spells for his six for fifty-two against the Lions – each to catches taken on the leg side.

Pace bowler Wood, also making his comeback after nine months out with a knee problem, delivered a pre-planned number of 8 overs before departing the field in the afternoon session because of a hamstring issue. He will undergo scanning on the following day.

The Wood situation sucked the intensity out of the day, as the England Lions were bowled out for 382 on a slow, low surface after an automatic toss at the venue.

The tourists aimed to bowl first to accumulate bowling time before the initial Test match at the main venue, starting on November 21st.

In a possible hint towards their opening Test strategy, the tourists selected an all-pace attack – four specialists plus the captain – and omitted off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in the Lions.

Bethell didn't strengthen his claim for selection in the Test side, making only two, but Will Jacks boosted his claim to be called upon later in the tour by swiping eighty-four.

Ben McKinney, Cox, 17-year-old Thomas Rew and Matthew Potts also made half-centuries.

The team's decision to play a single warm-up game against the development squad has been questioned by some former players but the captain responded by calling the doubters "former players".

A low-pressure opening day in front of a small crowd of spectators at the ground was definitely a world away from what England will face at a sold-out main stadium next week.

The captain was superb in the series against India in the home summer, only to push himself to breaking point. He missed the final Test with a shoulder tear.

The skipper has not managed a complete participation in any of England's previous four tours because of different fitness issues and the team's hopes of winning back the series are vastly diminished if he is absent from any of the five matches in Australia.

He has been practicing at maximum speed for 60 days and looked in fine shape on the match day, even if he could not comprehend the way in which some of his dismissals were gifted.

Will Jacks is not expected to feature in the first Test – the team look to have revealed their hand with the eleven selected here. Still, he may have moved himself in front of the struggling Jacob Bethell with his 84, which came at nearly run-a-ball pace.

Even before the doubt over Wood, the five seamers in the England XI for this match may not have been the bowling unit for the first Test.

Brydon Carse missed the first day because of illness, with his position going to Josh Tongue. Josh Tongue had opening batsman McKinney edging to the keeper just after the break.

Although the captain took the scalps, Archer impressed observers. He was lively with the fresh ball and again after the interval, when he discomforted Jacks.

In the omission of Bashir and with Wood leaving the field, Root was asked to deliver fourteen overs of his off-spin. It was average performance, conceding 117 runs at an economy of more than eight.

Root at least took a scalp in the final session when Fisher somehow hit a full toss to mid-on before Archer dismissed with a bouncer Potts for 53 with the final ball of the day.