England confirm 50-over warm-up fixture at the Waca before Australia tour

England’s one-day team will play a warm-up match at the Waca ahead of its white-ball tour of Australia this winter. The fixture is intended to help players prepare for next year’s 50-over World Cup.

ECB chair Richard Thompson said the arrangement reflected lessons from England’s Test team losing the Ashes 4-1. The side faced criticism for having just one internal warm-up before that series.

England’s Test players are also scheduled to have warm-up matches before tours of South Africa and Bangladesh, and before a one-off Test in Melbourne marking 150 years of Test cricket. Those plans were made before Stephen Fleming replaced Brendon McCullum as Test coach.

The one-day warm-up follows McCullum’s call for more preparation matches to bring players up to speed. England have at least 20 official games scheduled before next autumn’s World Cup.

Thompson said warm-up arrangements are set out in an agreement, rather than depending on goodwill. He added that strong preparation, pitches and facilities matter for both teams in the Ashes.