England will play a Western Australia XI in a 50-over warm-up game at the WACA ahead of their ODI series against Australia in November – having been criticised for not facing any local opposition prior to their Ashes humbling last winter.
England’s sole Test match warm-up before being thrashed 4-1 was an intra-squad fixture held at club ground Lilac Hill, which in no way replicated the bouncy conditions they ultimately came up against in the series opener in Perth, a contest they lost inside two days.
White-ball coach Brendon McCullum, who was in charge of the Test side during the Ashes thrashing, had said last month that he was hoping to arrange some warm-up games this time around and his team will now take on the Western Australia XI on November 7.
The first one-day international against Australia on November 13 is also in Perth, at Optus Stadium, followed by matches in Adelaide on November 15 and Hobart on November 18.
McCullum’s side will then meet their hosts in five T20 internationals, across Melbourne, Carrara, Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra.
Joe Root is a key member of England’s ODI side
England are yet to name their squads for the tour but hope Jacob Bethell will be fit to return having missed the back end of the home summer following a knee injury and subsequent surgery.
Before that assignment, they will play an ODI tri-series in Pakistan, also featuring Sri Lanka, from October 20.
‘Crane a better leg-spinner than Ahmed’
Glamorgan leg-spinner Mason Crane has been called up, in place of the dropped Rehan Ahmed, and is eyeing a first international appearance since the 2017-18 Ashes.
Crane recorded bowling figures of 1-193 from 48 overs on a trying red-ball debut in Sydney back then but has enjoyed a fine season domestically in 2026, playing all 14 County Championship games and backing up his 34 wickets with two hundreds.
The former Hampshire bowler also claimed 15 Vitality Blast wickets.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, former England captain Michael Atherton said: “Crane’s call-up is a great story.
Mason Crane could play for England for the first time since 2018 after being named in the squad for the ODI tri-series in Pakistan
“He had a hellish introduction to Test cricket but I thought he showed a lot of character in that game and didn’t bowl as badly as his figures suggested.
“He has reaped the benefit of both a bit of experience – he is 29 now and been around the block – and being at a county where he is getting plenty of game time.
“His batting has come on as well which is not going to harm his chances at all.
Rehan Ahmed played two ODIs in the recent series win over Sri Lanka, recording figures of 1-46 from seven overs in Durham and 2-48 from eight at Headingley
“I am happy England have moved on from Ahmed from a spin-bowling side as I feel there are better leg-spinners than him.
“To my mind, Ahmed is principally a batter first who bowls leg-spin whereas I see Crane the other way.
“There is time for Ahmed to come back but England have to work out how they see his role and he does, too.
“Crane is definitely a better leg-spinner than him for me and England may be looking at him for the rest of the winter [with a Test series in Bangladesh in February].”