The world’s top-two Test batsmen flunked their chances to develop pre-Ashes form on a day of heavy-run scoring at Lilac Hill.
In what is likely to be their only chance for an innings before facing up to Australia’s attack in next week’s first Test here, Yorkshire pair Joe Root and Harry Brook – numbers one and two in the ICC batting rankings – fell for single-figure scores.
Root arrived here amid talk of an Ashes hundred being the only thing missing from a stellar career CV, but followed an underwhelming limited-overs series in New Zealand a fortnight ago – in which he mustered just 29 runs in three innings – with a failure against England Lions.
While the rest of the top six in Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes cashed in on the favourable batting conditions on day two of three – Pope bowled, missing a sweep off Shoaib Bashir immediately after getting to 100 – Root became the final victim in a spell of three for three in four overs when he tamely pulled a Matt Potts delivery to midwicket.
Root is a player who revels in spending time in the middle and so a contribution of one from a dozen deliveries to an England innings that saw the Lions’ 375 surpassed in the evening session was anything but ideal for a player who clearly has unfinished business here, following three previous Test tours of Australia.
In the context of such limited build-up to the five Test series, Brook’s dismissal was worse.
Joe Root failed in England’s Ashes warm-up as he was out for just one against the Lions
Harry Brook also flunked his chance to pick up some form amid an extremely chaotic innings
Having survived a curious attempt to scoop off former county team-mate Matthew Fisher – the ball dropping short of a return chance for the Surrey bowler – he played a shot that did little to quell Australian ribbing about the knockabout nature of England’s warm-up fixture.
With just two to his name, England vice-captain Brook ran down the pitch in Nathan Gilchrist’s first over and under-edged into off-stump.
There is no doubting Brook’s quality as an international player, given his average of 57.55 and career record of 10 Test hundreds.
But dismissals like the one that reduced England to 198 for four draw attention to his poor record here. Although he is yet to play Test or one-day international cricket here, he averages just 9.85 in nine Twenty20 internationals on Australian soil and managed just 6.28 in seven innings for Hobart Hurricanes prior to becoming an international.
England’s opening pair of Crawley and Duckett made the most of the morning session when the pitch was at its quickest, with the latter threading a succession of boundaries through the cordon, including one that found its way between first and second slip at catchable height off Potts.
They had put on 140 by lunch and had taken their stand to 182 when Potts – luckless in his new-ball burst of 5-0-40-0 – had Duckett caught behind following a switch of ends.
When Fisher pinged the flap of Zak Crawley’s pad at the other moments later, it provided two new players at the crease and the Lions were thankful for two further gifted wickets, as a surface baked by the sun slowed up and the ball softened.
There was better news elsewhere as Ollie Pope (above) scored a 100 to nail down his place
Ben Stokes showed some ruthless batting and passed 50, as did Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett
Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann also aimed a dig at England for being predictable
But England captain Stokes practised what he preached with his ‘balls to the wall’ promise with some ruthless batting alongside centurion Pope, particularly when faced with the tour’s senior spinner Shoaib Bashir, launching a couple of monstrous straight sixes and then hauling Will Jacks’ off-spin over the rope at midwicket.
The senior side were in credit by the time that Stokes sliced to point off Jacks – the first of a procession of late wickets that included three for 14 from the slow left-arm of Jacob Bethell.
Meanwhile, England’s Ashes preparations continued in among the phoney-war, with Darren Lehmann become the latest Australian to aim a dig at Stokes’ side on Wednesday.
After they announced their team for the warm-up match against the Lions, former Australia coach Lehmann accused them of being predictable.
‘No spinner (tick), bowl first (tick) – Never bat first, this is how they will set up. Over rates, who cares,’ he posted on X.
