Ben Stokes took six wickets in his first action since July but England suffered an injury concern over Mark Wood on the first day of their Ashes warm-up against England Lions in Perth.
Stokes, returning after almost four months out with a shoulder injury, bowled 16 overs across three spells for his 6-52 against England Lions – all to catches on the leg side.
Fast bowler Mark Wood, himself returning after nine months out with a knee injury, bowled a pre-planned number of eight overs before leaving the field in the afternoon session because of a hamstring problem. He will have a scan on Friday.
Wood’s injury sucked the intensity out of the day, as the Lions were bowled out for 382 on a slow, low surface after an uncontested toss at Lilac Hill.
England wanted to field first to get overs in their legs before the first Ashes Test at Optus Stadium, beginning on 21 November.
In a possible hint towards their first-Test plans, the tourists fielded an all-pace attack – four specialists plus Stokes – and left off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in the Lions.
Jacob Bethell failed to press his case for inclusion in the Test side, making only two, but Will Jacks enhanced his claim to be called upon later in the tour by swiping 84.
Ben McKinney, Jordan Cox, 17-year-old Thomas Rew and Matthew Potts also made half-centuries.
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