England spinner Shoaib Bashir struggled on the final day of the Ashes warm-up against the Lions, perhaps raising the prospect of the tourists picking an all-pace frontline attack for the series opener against Australia in Perth from Friday.
Bashir went at almost seven runs an over as he recorded figures of 1-83 from 12 overs bowling for the senior England team, having taken 1-68 from 12 while playing for the Lions on day two at Lilac Hill.
With England quick Mark Wood cleared of injury after suffering a tight hamstring while bowling eight overs on day one of the tune-up fixture, the tourists could pick a bowling unit of Wood, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson at Optus Stadium.
In that scenario, Josh Tongue would be Wood’s most likely deputy should Stokes’ side feel the latter needs more time to prove his fitness.
Ollie Pope is in fine form ahead of the Ashes opener at Optus Stadium
England beat the Lions by five wickets in Perth, with Ollie Pope backing up his first-innings century – and potentially nailing his Ashes No 3 spot – with a knock of 90 from just 67 balls as the first team reached their target of 201 in 34.4 overs after a manufactured Lions declaration on 251-6.
Stokes (15no) and Jamie Smith (39no) guided England to victory after Pope, Joe Root (31) and Harry Brook (19) fell, with openers Zak Crawley (3) and Ben Duckett (0) out cheaply – Duckett dismissed for a golden duck by Nathan Gilchrist.
Off-spinning all-rounder Will Jacks bagged the wickets of Root and Brook, both bowled, and may now have leapfrogged Bashir in the pecking order should England play a main spinner.
Jacob Bethell hit 70 for the Lions on the final day at Lilac Hill
Earlier, Jacob Bethell, Pope’s rival for the No 3 berth, made 70 for the Lions before being caught and bowled by Bashir, while Ben McKinney hit 68, Jordan Cox 57 and Jacks 20.
McKinney, Cox and Lions skipper Tom Haines (12) were all out to paceman Carse, who registered figures of 3-65 from 11 overs having missed the first two days of the game with illness.
Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton reacts to the news that Mark Wood is set to be fit for the first Ashes Test and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
All times UK and Ireland
- First Test: Friday November 21 – Tuesday November 25 (2.30am) – Optus Stadium, Perth
- Second Test (day/night): Thursday December 4 – Monday December 8 (4.30am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third Test: Wednesday December 17 – Sunday December 21 (12am) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth Test: Thursday December 25 – Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 – Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
