Overview
- England scheduled only one three-day match against the England Lions at Lilac Hill as their build-up to the series opener on November 21 at Optus Stadium.
- Zak Crawley said the brief lead-in is good preparation and that England will be ready next week, pushing back on criticism from former players and commentators.
- Crawley struck 82 off 101 in England’s first-innings 426 during the warm-up fixture.
- Ben Stokes collected six wickets in the game, though some observers questioned how searching the dismissals were.
- England’s options looked stretched in spin with Joe Root doing much of the bowling as Shoaib Bashir featured for the Lions, and there was a reported injury concern for fast bowler Mark Wood.