England step up Australia preparations with WACA warm-up

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The tourists have added a List A game at the WACA in Perth on November 7, six days before the first of three ODIs and five T20s Down Under.

The move represents a shift from the England and Wales Cricket Board, following criticism of their build-up to last winter’s Ashes series. The Test team tuned up for the first Test in Perth with an internal game against England Lions at a club ground in Lilac Hill, and later said the WACA was not available.

But Brendon McCullum, now solely in charge of the white-ball setup having lost the red-ball role, suggested recently he was keen to add more intense warm-up games in the lead-in to next year’s World Cup.

England will be hoping for a strong opposition but workload issues mean the likes of Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Cooper Connolly would not be expected following their involvement in the ongoing tour of South Africa. International pace bowlers Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson and Mahli Beardman could still feature.