Stokes Claims Six Wickets in English Test Series Preparation Match

Practice match, Perth venue (first day of three)

Development squad 382: Jacks 84, McKinney 67; Stokes 6-52

National team: still to bat

The England captain achieved six wickets in his first action following July but England encountered an fitness worry about fast bowler Wood on the opening day of their Ashes warm-up versus the development squad in Perth.

Stokes, making his comeback after nearly four months away with a shoulder problem, delivered 16 overs across three spells for his six for fifty-two versus England Lions – each to catches on the leg side.

Pace bowler Mark Wood, himself returning after nine months away with a knee problem, bowled a pre-planned number of eight overs before leaving the field in the afternoon session because of a hamstring problem. 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 three hundred eighty-two on a slow, low surface after an uncontested toss at Lilac Hill.

The tourists wanted to bowl first to build bowling fitness before the initial Test match at the main venue, beginning on 21 November.

In a possible hint towards their first-Test plans, the visiting team selected an fast bowling lineup – four specialists plus Stokes – and left spin bowler Shoaib Bashir in the development squad.

Bethell failed to press his case for inclusion in the Test team, making only two, but Jacks boosted his credentials to be selected later in the tour by hitting 84.

McKinney, Jordan Cox, teenage Rew and Matthew Potts also scored half-centuries.

The team's plan to play a single warm-up game against the development squad has been questioned by some ex-players but Stokes hit back by labeling the doubters "has-beens".

A low-pressure first day in front of a small crowd of spectators at the ground was certainly a different experience from what the team will encounter at a packed Optus Stadium next week.

Stokes was excellent in the series against the Indian team in the domestic season, only to push himself to breaking point. He missed the final Test with a shoulder tear.

The skipper has not completed a complete participation in any of the team's past four series because of different fitness issues and the tourists' chances of regaining the series are significantly reduced if he is absent from any of the five Tests in Australia.

He has been bowling at full pace 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 presented.

Jacks is not expected to play in the first Test – the team look to have revealed their intentions with the XI named here. Still, he may have moved himself ahead of the out-of-sorts Jacob Bethell with his eighty-four, which came at almost a run a ball.

Even before the concern over Mark Wood, the five seamers in the team lineup for this match may not have been the bowling unit for the first Test.

Brydon Carse was absent from the first day because of illness, with his position going to Josh Tongue. Tongue had Lions opener McKinney edging to the keeper just after the break.

Although the captain took the scalps, Archer caught the eye. He was lively with the fresh ball and again after the interval, when he caused problems for Jacks.

In the omission of Shoaib Bashir and with Mark Wood departing, Root was required to deliver fourteen overs of his off-spin. It was average performance, costing 117 runs at an run rate of more than eight.

Joe Root at least claimed a scalp in the closing stages when Fisher somehow struck a full toss to the fielder before Archer dismissed with a bouncer Matthew Potts for fifty-three with the last delivery of the day.