Anderson finds his match mojo
Paceman James Anderson picked up four wickets as England’s opening warm-up game of their Ashes tour against Western Australia XI ended in a draw in Perth on Sunday.
England’s most prolific wicket taker was the standout bowler for the touring side after they declared on 349/6 before the start of play on the second day of the two-day match.
Anderson finished with 4/27 from 13 overs but his opening partner, Stuart Broad, struggled for rhythm ahead of the five-Test series against Australia starting later in November. Broad picked up 1/64 from 13 overs, while Chris Woakes went wicketless in 15 overs.
“You could probably see from the first session that we were pretty rusty as bowlers,” Anderson said. “We didn’t get it right. The point [of the warm-up match] is to try to get into the tour. We’ve got two first-class games coming up that we want to be fit for.”
Western Australia were bowled out for 338 but kept batting to allow England a full day on the field.
Leg spinner Mason Crane and pace bowler Craig Overton picked up two wickets each, boosting their hopes of making their debuts during the series. Jake Ball returned 1/31. England’s bowlers initially struggled to have an effect as Western Australia openers Josh Philippe and Jake Carder put on 80 runs for the first wicket. Overton dismissed Carder for 22 to break the stand. Philippe was impressive in his knock of 88, studded with 16 fours.
England play their second warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide starting on Wednesday. Brisbane will host the first match of the five-test Ashes series from November 23.