England announce major schedule change in between India series
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Team England has confirmed that they will be featuring in only one practice game before the onset of The Ashes for the 2025-26 season. The game is likely to be played against England Lions at Lilac Hill in Perth.
England are currently playing in the 5-match Test series against India and have made a promising performance as of yet. The giants of the gentleman's game, England, are still eagerly waiting for their first strong finish in the WTC. They have never made it to the WTC Finals and would be eyeing an end to it this time.
Like every year, England will feature in the 5-match series against Australia, which was famously named The Ashes. This time around, the Englishmen have to travel to the Australian continent for the series, and the initiative is that the England A team will tag along with the senior pros.
England skips warm-up game before Ashes
England will play a three-day red-ball game against England Lions at Lilac Hill, the home ground of Midland Guildford Cricket Club in Perth. The match is likely to be played from the 13th to the 15th of November before the onset of the main event.
There was a previous tradition throughout the 1990s, when any visiting Test team would play a 50-over festival game to kick off the tour. However, such traditions have now been kept aside, with the visiting teams not even playing against Australian state sides any further.
England are looking forward to following in the footsteps of India, who had a similar schedule of warm-up games when they toured Australia last year for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The Western Australia Cricket Association ground (WACA) will not be available on the 13th and the 14th of November, as it will then be hosting a Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and Queensland from the 11th to the 14th of November.
Though reportedly England are likely to feature in only one practice match against the Lions, they are likely to play another 2-match fixture against the Prime Minister's XI, which might be held between the first and the second Test.
England Lions schedule for the Australia tour
The England Lions are likely to play three fixtures in total on their concurrent tour to Australia. Following their first game against England, which Cricket Australia suggested might be included as part of their three-match visit to the island nation.
They are supposed to play the second four-day match at the same venue as Lilac Hill in Perth against Cricket Australia XI, which is most likely to consist of young Australian U-19 players, who will not be playing in the Sheffield Shield.
They are then supposed to travel to Brisbane and play another four-day Test game against Australia A at the Allan Border Field from the 5th of December. The Lions matches are played simultaneously alongside the English, which means the coaches can play the benched English players on the Lions side.
Nov 13-15: England v England Lions, Lilac Hill (Perth)
Nov 21-24: CA XI v England Lions, Lilac Hill (Perth)
Dec 5-8: Australia A v England Lions, Allan Border Field (Brisbane)
England is looking to end the India series on a positive note
The Englishmen are currently playing against India on their home turf; however, India has managed to register a win at Birmingham already. Though England took the early lead at Headingley, their main momentum was gained during the audacious win at Lord's.
Going into Manchester 2-1, the English might have the best positive attitude, as for now, everything is going their way. If Rishabh Pant is ruled out due to a blow on his leg, this will be an even bigger update for the hosts, who would also aim at securing their series win here at Old Trafford.
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