England learns from Ashes mistakes

England and Wales Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson says the team has learned from errors before last winter's 4-1 Ashes defeat in booking a 50-over warm-up before their white-ball tour of Australia this winter.

“There is a lot that was learned.”

Warm-up match confirmed in Perth

Brendon McCullum's white-ball side will play a Western Australia XI at the Waca in Perth on 7 November, six days before their one-day international series begins.

Previous preparation fell short

The Test team faced heavy criticism for having only one in-house warm-up before the Ashes. Their warm-up was played against the Lions at Lilac Hill, where conditions differed vastly from the first-Test venue, Optus Stadium, where England lost inside two days.

ECB and Cricket Australia make agreement

Since the Ashes, the ECB and Cricket Australia have agreed a reciprocal arrangement that would mean touring teams are provided with better preparation before Ashes series. Thompson said these things are codified in an agreement, not relying on goodwill.

“It can't be a situation where a board chair or CEO move on and the goodwill falls away.”

McCullum wants more warm-up games

The addition to England's 50-over schedule comes after McCullum spoke of a wish to arrange such fixtures to get players up to speed before next year's 50-over World Cup. White-ball warm-up matches have faded from tours in recent years, with England not playing one for six years.

“We're going to try and put on a smattering of warm-up games to try and get guys up to speed as quickly as we can.”

England's Australia tour schedule set

England play three ODIs and five T20s in Australia this winter from 13 November to 2 December. The announcement of England's new batch of central contracts is expected to come next week.