THE FUSE

England have passed up the opportunity to send their first-choice batters to gain match practice in an Ashes tour game in Canberra, despite a dismal defeat in the first Test.

The tourists were beaten inside two days in Perth, meaning an 11-day break before the second Test – a day-nighter in Brisbane.

The extended gap meant the possibility of players joining England Lions' two-day pink-ball game against a Prime Minister's XI in the capital on Saturday and Sunday.

Instead, only pace bowlers Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts, and batter Jacob Bethell – a trio not involved in the first Test – will leave the Ashes squad to join the Lions.

It is understood that none of the England players from the first-Test XI asked to play in Canberra.

The fixture against the Prime Minister's XI is a tradition for visiting teams to Australia.

England have played in the game in past Ashes tours, but it was not in their schedule this time around because of a potential tight turnaround to Brisbane if the Perth Test lasted all five days, and an avoidance of tour matches since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum took charge in 2022.

The flight from Perth on the west coast to Canberra in the east takes just under four hours. It is just under two hours to fly from the capital north to Brisbane.

However, given the first Test was completed so quickly – the first two-day Ashes Test since 1921 – the idea of sending at least the batters to Canberra appeared to make sense for a number of reasons.

Firstly, England were bowled out twice in Perth inside 67.3 overs. Not since 1904 have England survived so few deliveries in losing a Test.

Both Stokes and former captain Joe Root failed to reach double figures in both innings, while Zak Crawley became only the fourth England opener to record a pair in an Ashes Test.

England played only one warm-up match before the first Test, so the game in Canberra would have provided valuable time in the middle.

In addition, the Lions match would have given time using the pink ball, with England due to play a rare day-night Test.

England have lost five of their seven previous day-nighters, while Australia have won 13 from 14. In pace bowler Mitchell Starc, who took 10 wickets in Perth, Australia have the best pink-ball bowler in the world.

Of England's likely XI in Brisbane, wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and pace bowler Gus Atkinson have never played a first-class match with a pink ball, while Brydon Carse has played only one.

Asked after the first Test if England would alter their plans and send players to Canberra, Stokes was adamant they would not.

"I've been asked this question a lot, that's how it was done a long time ago," he told Test Match Special. "We prepare incredibly well and work incredibly hard every day we get the opportunity to work on our game.

"We've operated in this way where we know that the preparation we put in is correct in the way it works for us."

Coach McCullum appeared to leave the door open when he said: "We've just got to work out what the pros and cons are. We're not married to any position at the moment, but we'll work it out in a couple of days."

McCullum added he was "sure" a batter could play in Canberra if he wanted to.

England will travel to Brisbane on Wednesday and are not scheduled to train until Monday. There is the possibility of an extra training session on Sunday.

Speaking on Saturday, former captain Michael Vaughan said it would be "amateurish" to pass up the opportunity to play in Canberra.

"What harm is it playing two days of cricket with the pink ball under lights?" Vaughan told the Test Match Special podcast.

"I can't be so old school to suggest that by playing cricket they might get a little bit better?

"My method would be, you've got a pink-ball two-day game, you go and grab it, go and take it, play those two days and give yourself the best chance."