Australia warm-up shows England have 'learned' from Ashes

England's 50-over side began 2026 by winning in Sri Lanka and beat the same opponents and India at home this summer

England have "learned" from the mistakes of their Ashes defeat in booking a 50-over warm-up before their white-ball tour of Australia this winter, says England and Wales Cricket Board chair Richard Thompson.

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.

The Test team were heavily criticised for only having one in-house warm-up before last winter's dismal 4-1 Ashes defeat.

"There is a lot that was learned," said Thompson.

"You have to remember these decisions are taken so far ahead.

"The reality is in those decisions, mistakes were made and we've corrected that now."

McCullum, who has since been sacked as Test coach but remains in charge of the white-ball sides, admitted during the Ashes that mistakes may have been made with preparation.

Their warm-up was played against the Lions at club ground Lilac Hill, where conditions where vastly different to the first-Test venue, Optus Stadium.

There, England lost inside two days en route to conceding the series at the earliest opportunity.

At the time, the ECB said it had been told the Waca was unavailable.

England are also due to play warm-ups before their Test tours of South Africa and Bangladesh this winter, and before the one-off 150th anniversary Test against Australia in Melbourne in March. Those fixtures were in place before McCullum was replaced by Stephen Fleming as Test coach this summer.

Since the Ashes, the ECB and Cricket Australia have also agreed a reciprocal arrangement that would mean touring teams are provided with better preparation before Ashes series.

"These things are codified and in an agreement, so we're not relying on goodwill," said Thompson, speaking at an event at Lord's to launch a new initiative to boost participation in state schools.

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

"It's important the Ashes has the best prep for both teams, the best wickets and the best facilities.

"That's something you will see going forward for both teams."

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This addition to England's 50-over schedule is partly a result of that agreement but also 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 - England have not played one for six years - and, while England have won three 50-over series in a row on the back of a poor run in the format, Joe Root was the only player in their most recent XI with over 50 caps.

They have a minimum of 20 official fixtures before the World Cup next autumn.

"Aside from Jos, Joe and Adil Rashid, there's not a lot of experience in that side," McCullum said after victory over Sri Lanka.

"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 play three ODIs and five T20s in Australia this winter from 13 November to 2 December.

They also play a 50-over tri-series in Pakistan against the hosts and Sri Lanka later this month.

The announcement of England's new batch of central contracts, meanwhile, is expected to come next week, having initially been anticipated at the start of October.

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