up match vs Lions, Michael Vaughan responds to Ben Stokes, video

England looks poised to unleash an all-pace attack for the Ashes opener at Perth Stadium after picking four quicks for this week’s intra-squad match at Lilac Hill.

Spinner Shoaib Bashir was named in the English Lions team for the warm-up contest in Perth, while the England XI featured fast bowlers Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson. Fellow quick Brydon Carse is unwell and won’t feature in day one of the red-ball contest.

Although England won’t confirm its starting XI for the first Test against Australia until next week, the warm-up match provides a hint at how the tourists could shape up for the Ashes opener.

Ollie Pope is slated to bat at No. 3 despite conjecture over whether young gun Jacob Bethell should take his spot at first drop.

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STOKES HITS BACK AT ENGLAND ‘HAS-BEENS’

England captain Ben Stokes has responded to accusations from “has-beens” who claim the tourists are undercooked ahead of the Ashes.

While all but one member of the Australian squad was in action in the Sheffield Shield this week, England will have its sole hitout against a Lions team at Lilac Hill.

The contrast in preparation between the two nations was a significant concern for former Test captain Michael Vaughan and England legend Ian Botham, who declared it “borders on arrogance”.

Speaking to reporters in Perth on Wednesday, Stokes defended England’s lack of red-ball cricket ahead of the blockbuster series, arguing it had become the norm in the modern game.

“Cricket’s changed so much and preparation is nowhere near as simple as it used to be.‘You used to be able to come out on a tour a month-and-a-half, two months before the first game started,” Stokes said.

“Now there’s so much cricket packed into the schedule it’s impossible to do it how it used to be done.

“But we’ve not been preparing for this tour not over the last three weeks, we’ve put a lot of thought and process into this for a few years now.

“So I don’t know what else we’re expected to do? There’s Sheffield Shield cricket on at the moment so who would we play against?

“We’re about to go out and face a team who have got a mix between our squad and also the next best players in England.

“So there’s a quite a few factors that play into the whole of why we can’t prepare how the has-beens maybe prepared in the past. The landscape of cricket has changed.

“But we are very confident and very comfortable with how we prepare because we leave no stone unturned.”

Vaughan responded to Stokes’ comments in the Telegraph and said it was right that there was was scrunity over England’s preparation.

“But the truth is we cannot judge how they have prepared until January 8. We cannot judge it after this week’s intra-squad three-day warm-up, which they say will be balls to the wall,’” he wrote.

“We cannot even judge it after the crucial first Test. We can only truly know if it has worked when the series is over, and whether Ben Stokes has the urn in his hands.

“Equally, England have to accept that there will be scrutiny. Just because the “has-beens” have a different view does not mean these are not valid comments. England should respect those views. They are coming from legends of the game who cannot play any more because they are too old, but that does not mean they do not desperately want England to win!”

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