Matthew Potts starred with the ball on the second day of England Lions' game against Cricket Australia XI, as England tested out their Ashes reserve bowlers.
As the chaos deepened at the Perth Stadium and England slid towards a defeat in the opening Ashes Test, the Lions conceded a first innings lead in their first tour match a few miles away at Lilac Hill. England released Potts, Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell from their main squad to play on day two of the Lions game, while wicketkeeper James Rew swapped over to give fielding cover on what turned out to be the final day of the first Test. Shoaib Bashir and Josh Tongue stayed with the Ashes squad.
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Having been bowled out for 299 on day one, England started the day bowling, and cycled through all of their available options with the ball over the course of the day. They used 10 bowlers, with both Matthew Fisher and Potts getting through 17 overs, while Tom Hartley bowled a solitary over which went for six runs and brought the wicket of Josh Inglis. Potts was the standout, taking three wickets within the space of four overs later in the day, including T20 star Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Also of note was Will Jacks, who bowled 16 overs with an economy rate of 2.56 runs per over, and produced the dismissal of Jhye Richardson. Jacks is England's only back-up spin option behind Bashir in the main Ashes squad. Although England opted to forgo a spinner for the Perth Test, two batting collapses may give them food for thought to keep their batting lineup deep if they decide to include a spinner for the second Test at Brisbane.
Eddie Jack, Nathan Gilchrist, Matt Revis and Mitchell Stanley also took one wicket apiece as CAXI were bowled out for 341 and took a 42-run lead into the second innings. The Lions mirrored the senior side elsewhere in the city by being 0-1 in their second dig, after Tom Haines was bowled by Charlie Anderson for a golden duck.
They finished the day on 4-1, with Bethell having come out to bat at No.3.
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