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Oct 29 2010, 09:25 AM

England fly out for the Ashes this lunchtime! Thoughts on the upcoming series?

BBC Sport

 

Stuart Broad took three wickets before lunch as England began their Ashes tour with an encouraging bowling performance in their first warm-up match in Perth.

Putting out what could be their Test team against Western Australia, England fielded first in a three-day match.

Broad took two wickets in his first over, but WA recovered to reach 242-8 before declaring late in the day.

Alastair Cook was bowled by a delivery that bounced off his body onto the stumps as England reached 10-1.

Broad relished bowling with the new ball, nipping out Liam Davis and Michael Swart almost immediately for ducks, before Test batsman Marcus North (19) also departed to the tall Nottinghamshire seamer.

WA ground out their runs in the first session, reaching 45-3, before accelerating against the softer ball after lunch.

Adam Voges (72) and Wes Robinson (62) put on 87 in 22.5 overs as England proved less of a force in the afternoon heat.

But James Anderson got through 22 overs, showing he is fully recovered from his broken rib. He had Luke Pomersbach caught behind by Matt Prior, while Steven Finn, Graeme Swann and Paul Collingwood each picked up a wicket as well.

England picked the 11 players who many judges expect to contest the first Test in Brisbane on 25 November, sticking to the four-bowler plan and with Ian Bell preferred to Eoin Morgan in the top six.

They lost the toss against a strong home side, but any disappointment that they were not batting first was swiftly put to one side as the second over of the morning produced two wickets.

One of the key factors in the Ashes is likely to be whether England can bowl effectively with the Kookburra balls used down under. Broad seemed to enjoy it when it was new.

He struck with only his fourth first-class ball in Australia, finding enough bounce to have Davis edging to second slip on the back foot - Swann making no mistake with a neat catch low to his left.

And Swart followed first ball, failing to avoid a short ball and looping a catch off the glove to Collingwood running in from third slip.

North kept out the hat-trick ball before England loosened their grip when Finn replaced Anderson at the Lillee-Marsh Stand end.

The Middlesex youngster struggled to find any consistency with his length. He gave both batsmen some awkward moments when he got it right but over-pitched alarmingly at times, driven straight back for four by Robinson in his first over and then serving up successive full-tosses in his next.

Anderson switched ends and was soon appealing for the wicket of Robinson, but umpire Ian Lock did not detect any edge to Prior.

Swann, famed for his knack of first-over wickets, was equally unable to part North and Robinson as England received an early lesson about the patience and hard work sure to be required this winter.

But Broad was not done with, and had North carving a back-foot edge to Swann high at second slip just before lunch.

Anderson and Swann each appealed for lbw decisions early in the afternoon session only to be rebuffed by the umpires.

And Robinson put pressure on Swann, sweeping the spinner for successive fours and hoisting him over long-on for six on the way to an otherwise painstaking half-century.

It was only when Andrew Strauss turned to Collingwood to fill in some overs that the latter's part-time medium-pace immediately brought Robinson's wicket, via a return catch.

But Voges was 54 not out at tea, and found further support from Pomersbach early in the final session.

After tea, Anderson was repaid for his discipline with the old ball when Pomersbach edged a flat-footed drive behind.

In the next over, Voges contributed to his own downfall only four runs later, taking off for an unwise single to cover and beaten to the non-striker's end by a direct hit from Collingwood.

Luke Ronchi stayed long enough to expose Finn's rustiness in a breezy 32 from 26 balls. He followed a straight-driven four with a hook for six, but got a little carried away and cut the next one straight to gully.

Swann picked up a heartening late wicket as well, Ryan Duffield edging an attempted cut behind, and a canny declaration came after just two overs with the second new ball.

Cook had cause to regret North's decision to terminate the innings as Steve Magoffin soon struck when the Essex left-hander failed to cope with a bouncy delivery.

BBC Sport

 

England's Kevin Pietersen hinted at a return to form ahead of the Ashes in an otherwise lacklustre top-order batting effort against Western Australia.

Pietersen top-scored with 58, including nine fours, as the tourists declared on 223-8 on day two of the game in Perth.

England were 117-7 at one stage but an unbroken stand of 64 between Stuart Broad (53) and Graeme Swann (23) saw them trail by only 19 on first innings.

The state side extended that to 128 by reaching 109-1 at close of play.

Having arrived in Australia with a determination to hit the ground running, England had reason to be satisfied with their first-day performance, despite the dismissal of opener Alastair Cook for five shortly before the close.

But at the start of day two, it soon became apparent they were not going to be served up easy runs by a largely inexperienced Western Australia attack as skipper Andrew Strauss tried to force a ball from Steve Magoffin off the back foot and was caught behind for 14.

Nightwatchman Jimmy Anderson lingered in the middle for 40 minutes before he was taken at second slip of Ryan Duffield, leaving Pietersen and Jonathan Trott to rebuild the innings.

The state side were handicapped by the loss of Magoffin, their most seasoned performer, with a knee injury but showed they had done their homework on Pietersen by immediately introducing the left-arm spin of Michael Beer.

Having fallen to left-armers so often in the past, Pietersen set out his stall to try to dominate the 26-year-old, making only his third first-class appearance, by lofting him over mid-on for four before cover-driving for a second boundary.

He had a slice of good fortune on 25 when Luke Pomersbach failed to hang onto a low slip chance as he dived to his left - seamer Michael Hogan the unlucky bowler - and by lunch England's fourth-wicket partnership had added 61.

The interval did them no favours, however, as Trott edged Beer to the keeper from the fifth ball after the resumption and home skipper Marcus North took a superb catch at gully off Hogan to send Paul Collingwood on his way for four.

The same combination then accounted for Pietersen and Beer sent back Matt Prior for a fourth-ball duck, caught driving on the up at short extra-cover.

Ian Bell, who had hit Beer for six from the third ball he faced, became the spinner's third victim when he nicked tamely to the keeper.

At that point, England were 159-8 but Broad and Swann met the situation with panache and brio, hitting 11 boundaries between them to go with three sixes from Broad - the third of which, swept off Beer, brought up the left-handers half century from only 48 balls faced and prompted Strauss to make the declaration.

Broad again shared the new ball with Anderson as Western Australia began their reply but neither was able to make a breakthrough as openers Liam Davis and Wes Robinson shared a stand of 77.

It was Steve Finn who eventually separated the first-wicket pair, winning a leg-before decision against Davis, who went for 43, but Robinson (46) and Michael Swart (16)saw it through to stumps to leave England with plenty to think about ahead of the final day.

"Today there were a few hiccups, but there are a lot of positives," Pietersen said afterwards.

"A couple of the batters did actually spend an hour out there or so, which will stand them in good stead and as we know time in the middle is a lot better than time in the nets."

BBC Sport

 

Skipper Andrew Strauss hit 120 not out as England beat Western Australia by six wickets in their opening three-day warm-up game ahead of the Ashes series.

The Middlesex batsman's 141-ball knock featured a six and 15 fours as he led his side home on 243-4 in Perth.

England's only concern was a second failure for Alastair Cook, who fell for nine after they had bowled out the state side for 223.

Spinner Graeme Swann was the tourists' most successful bowler, with 4-101.

Developing a winning habit early in the tour was one of England's goals on arriving in Australia and the manner in which they went about their run-chase at the Waca Ground was a reflection of the confidence within the camp.

After Cook's early dismissal, bowled by Michael Hogan after planting his front foot down the track and shaping to play the ball to leg, Strauss took charge and was well supported by the other members of the top order.

The 33-year-old England captain shared stands of 65, 66 and 54 with Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood - before he and Ian Bell, who finished with 22 not out, knocked off the remaining runs.

Trott was caught behind down the leg side for 23 off the last ball before tea, Pietersen fell leg before wicket for 35 when he attempted a reverse sweep and only Collingwood, who was caught for 26, did not look comfortable at the crease.

Strauss, meanwhile, was particularly strong on the back foot, relishing the chance to pull anything dropped short, but he brought up his century with a straight drive off spinner Michael Swart.

Strauss is certain to be targeted by Australia's attack when the Ashes series begins in Brisbane on 25 November, so his innings was an important signal of intent.

England also bowled well earlier in the day, picking up nine wickets for 114 runs after Western Australia had resumed on 109-1.

There were two dropped catches - Bell failing to hold an early chance offered by Swart at gully and Collingwood putting down Luke Pomersbach at slip - but that did not take any gloss of the overall performance.

And England were especially delighted to get rid of Marcus North, the only member of Australia's Test side involved in the match, for a single, run out by substitute Eoin Morgan after being called for a sharp single by partner Adam Voges.

Opener Wes Robinson made his second half-century of the match for the home side, but soon after was lured forward by Swann and stumped by Matt Prior for 54.

Swann also removed the aggressive middle-order pair of Pomersbach and Luke Ronchi before adding the wicket of Michael Beer, but he was not amused by being hit over the top three times by last man Hogan, who made 21 off 12 balls before running himself out.

BBC Sport

 

Paul Collingwood nailed down his Ashes starting spot with an important innings of 94 after England had struggled initially against South Australia.

On day one of the second warm-up match in Adelaide, England were 95-4 before Collingwood and Ian Bell (61) added 131 in 32 overs either side of tea.

England declared at 288-8 before South Australia reached 26-0 in reply.

Beanpole paceman Peter George, a fringe contender for Ashes selection, had dismissed England's top three cheaply.

He first struck with a slightly fortuitous dismissal, Andrew Strauss coming down to earth following his century in Perth when he tried to glance a delivery down the leg-side from George only to offer a catch for diving wicketkeeper Graham Manou.

With Strauss gone for four, Jonathan Trott should have followed on 11 but was put down by Dan Harris at slip off fast bowler Ben Edmondson.

Instead, Trott departed in the very next over when attempting a pull which he badly mishit, to give George an easy catch off his own bowling.

Alastair Cook, in need of time in the middle, got as far as lunch before perishing in the second over after the interval for 32.

Having battled hard for two hours, he failed to move his feet and flapped an edge behind - a familiar failing of late.

Kevin Pietersen, 14 not out at lunch, was next to depart for 33 when he hooked Edmondson to deep square leg. Aiden Blizzard juggled the catch on the boundary rope and nearly lost his balance before completing the dismissal.

England had selected the same team which opened the tour with a victory over Western Australia - an indication that coach Andy Flower is keen to settle his plans for the first Test.

Among his first-choice batsmen are Collingwood and Bell, who each played in the 5-0 thrashing England received four years ago.

Durham veteran Collingwood, on the ground where he made a double-hundred in 2006-07 Ashes, easily outpaced Bell even if he did not look as solid as his younger partner, and reached tea on 73 not out.

Collingwood was beginning to show signs of real fluency when slicing seamer Jake Haberfield to gully.

Bell went six overs later, missing a straight one from Edmondson, and when England declared Matt Prior was unbeaten on 22 after spinner Aaron O'Brien had dismissed Stuart Broad (1) and Graeme Swann (25 from 23 balls).

England had nine overs of bowling before stumps were drawn, and the host team were wicketless in putting on 26, but Collingwood spoiled his day by putting down a routine chance at third slip to reprieve James Smith on 12 off James Anderson.

Collingwood, who did not play quite as solidly as Bell, admitted the top six still had "a long way to go" - with Cook and Trott still looking for their first half-centuries in Australia after three first-class innings each.

"We are progressing into a lot of confidence among the batters," Collingwood told reporters.

"We need obviously those guys who get a start to go on and make the big ones, that is going to be the difference.

"You need the guys who get in to make the big hundreds."