Matt Prior will captain England in their tour match against a Western Australia Chairman’s XI as Alastair Cook is struggling with a sore back.
Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann will all be rested while Monty Panesar has a stomach bug so Steven Finn, Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett have the chance to impress.
Pietersen only arrived in Australia on Sunday having been given compassionate leave following the death of a friend in South Africa.
Broad has a back problem but could feature in the second warm-up match against Australia A, which is scheduled to start in Hobart on 6th November.
I’d be very surprised if Alastair Cook doesn’t play the next one.
Matt Prior
Wicketkeeper Prior is looking forward to captaining the side, and has played down Cook’s injury, saying: “Cookie has a stiff back but rushing him into something is probably not the best idea.
“Him missing this game is purely precautionary, so I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t play the next one.
“KP has jetted around the world and just needs a little bit of rest and recuperation, so he can get into the right time zone, at the very least. Giving him a few more days is the best preparation for him.
“Everybody’s pushing each other very hard and that gets the best out of the final XI chosen.”
Yorkshire duo Joe Root and Gary Ballance are set to start while Michael Carberry and Ben Stokes will also have the opportunity to stake their place in the team.
England have won the last three Ashes series and are 1/1 to make it four in a row by winning this winter’s series. Australia can be backed at 7/4 while a drawn series is available at 9/2.
England team v Western Australia Chairman’s XI: Root, Carberry, Trott, Bell, Ballance, Stokes, Prior, Rankin, Tremlett, Finn, Anderson.
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