Townsville, Australia: In-form England paceman Chris Woakes claimed six wickets and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow had an injury scare as a Cricket Australia XI reached 249 for nine at the close on the opening day of their four-day tour match in Townsville on Wednesday.
The Warwickshire fast bowler finished the day with six for 54 in the final warm-up game before next week’s Ashes series opener against Australia in Brisbane.
The tourists didn’t help their cause by spilling three catches as CA XI skipper Matt Short topscored with 51.
England had an early injury scare when Test ‘keeper Bairstow was forced off the field for an hour after getting hit on a finger.
Bairstow was replaced by tour understudy Ben Foakes, who took a catch before Bairstow returned to the game with bruising to the middle finger of his left hand.
Woakes followed up his match-winning four for 17 in the second innings against CA XI in Adelaide with an even better one, taking four for eight at one stage in Townsville.
Woakes heads into the first Gabba Test in terrific form after he was ruled out for bulk of last season with a side injury suffered during the Champions Trophy.
Test hopeful Craig Overton (2-32) also edged closer to his debut. Off-spinner Moeen Ali had his first bowl on the tour after recovering from a side strain. He finished wicketless for 39 off 16 overs.
England’s spin pair Mason Crane and Moeen were astray with their bowling lengths during the morning session.
Leg-spinner Crane had two catches dropped off his bowling while a diving Bairstow also missed an opportunity when Woakes found the edge of Simon Milenko’s bat.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, says England’s only hope of winning a Test in the upcoming Ashes series is the day/night match in Adelaide and has predicted a 4-0 victory for the hosts.
Ponting savaged England’s batting order and said the absence of all-rounder Ben Stokes, along with injuries to their fast bowling stocks, would play into Australia’s hands.
His comments come after fierce criticism of the Australia batting line-up from former England greats Ian Botham and Graeme Swann.
“I’ve been a bit more outward than normal about this one because I honestly think that Australia will win really easily,” Ponting, who captained Australia in 77 Tests, told Cricket Australia’s website (cricket.com.au).
“If you look through the current England team, they’re searching for an opener, they’re searching for a number three, Stokes might not be there, a couple of their quicks have gone down.
“I just think right now England have got more gaps and more cause for concern in not only in their 11 but in their entire squad, than what Australia have.”
