Three Lions attack fail to pick up wickets against Western Australian side.
England’s bowlers toiled in the opening match of their Ashes tour on Thursday as the Western Australia Chairman’s XI reached 102 without loss at lunch on day one.
The home side, effectively a second-string team with the main state team involved in a domestic Sheffield Shield game against Victoria in Melbourne, won the toss and elected to bat.
Opening batsmen Marcus Harris (68 not out) and Luke Towers (32 not out) were rarely troubled at the WACA Ground as England’s bowling line-up failed to fire.
The three-day match was slated as a bowl-off for England’s pacemen, with Chris Tremlett, Boyd Rankin and Steven Finn using the contest to push their case for a spot in the first Test against Australia, starting at the Gabba on November 21.
But none of them caused Harris or Towers much trouble, with Rankin particularly wayward, bowling a string of full tosses in conceding 29 runs from four overs.
England are missing several key players for the match, including captain Alastair Cook, who has a sore back, and Kevin Pietersen, who was a late arrival in Australia, while fast bowlers Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann were rested.
Matt Prior is leading the English team in Cook’s absence.
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