Essex Seamer Sam Cook took four wickets in a fiery bowling spell in Brisbane to put England Lions forward on day one (January 14) of their tour match against Cricket Australia XI.
Batting first, the Lions suffered an early blow after opener Ben McKinney was dismissed for a duck. Captain Alex Davies (54) and No.3 Freddie McCann then added 76. That was the highest partnership in the tourists’ innings as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals.
Rocky Flintoff, son of former England captain and current Lions coach Andrew, struck three fours but couldn’t capitalise on the start, falling for 19 off 31 balls to leave the visitors at 198-7. No.8 Tom Lawes scored a 19-ball 28 before the Lions folded for 223. with Cameron Gannon taking the last wicket of Sonny Baker (1) to complete his five-wicket haul. Davies tops-scored with a 60-ball 54.
First ODI ❌
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 14, 2025
Second ODI ❌
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Scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/pTofu3T2ZS pic.twitter.com/NCR4RkF1wi
Cook runs riot, Bashir's lacklustre form continues
The Lions’ bowling response was nothing short of magnificent. Cook (4-15), who boasts of a sub-20 first-class bowling average, struck four times (including captain Peter Handscomb’s) inside his first five overs to leave the hosts reeling at 18-4. They soon became 36-5 before a counterattacking 62-ball 106* from Lachlan Hearne rescued CA XI, who went to stumps at 176-9, 47 runs behind the Lions.
Shoaib Bashir, 21, who had a middling outing in England’s Test series against Pakistan, was off-colour, leaking 37 from five overs with only the wicket of tail-ender Tom Whitney (2) to his name. Bashir had been fast-tracked into England's Test team for their India tour in January and played 15 out of 17 Tests in 2024.
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