Joe Root could not make the most of a flat Perth track but England's other batsmen dusted off the cobwebs in the opening warm-up match of the Ashes campaign against Australia on Friday. Michael Carberry (78), Ian Bell (77 not out) and Jonathan Trott (64 not out) registered half-centuries as bat dominated ball for the second successive day of the three-day contest against a second-strong Western Australia Chairman's XI.
Root (36) shared a 100-run stand with shadow opener Carberry but could not convert the start into a big knock and was trapped leg before by seam bowler Jim Allenby. Carberry missed out on a century when he cut a short and wide Ashton Turner delivery to the backward point. Bell, whose batting was instrumental in England's 3-0 Ashes victory at home in the northern hemisphere summer, looked in the same ominous touch as he cracked 11 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten knock.
Trott hit eight boundaries as England reached 270 for two at stumps, still trailing by 181 runs after the hosts had inflicted more misery on England's bowlers before declaring at 451-5. The Western Australia team, with most of their frontline players busy on Sheffield Shield duty, continued to plunder runs, as overnight batsmen Turner (62 not out) and Allenby (53) struck half-centuries as their top six batsmen all went past 50. The first test in the five-match series starts on November 21 in Brisbane.