England confirm Waca warm-up before Australia white-ball tour

England have confirmed a 50-over warm-up against a Western Australia XI at the Waca on 7 November, adding a preparation match before their white-ball tour of Australia. BBC Sport reported that the Perth fixture will be England's first white-ball warm-up in six years and will precede the opening one-day international by six days.

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The announcement follows Brendon McCullum's comments last month about arranging extra matches to help an inexperienced ODI squad prepare for the 2027 World Cup in southern Africa. England have at least 20 official one-day internationals scheduled before that tournament, but the coach has also identified warm-up games as a way to give players more experience.

The relative lack of experience was evident in the third ODI against Sri Lanka. With Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid injured, Joe Root was the only member of England's XI with more than 50 caps, according to the BBC report. McCullum singled out those three senior players when explaining why additional preparation could benefit the rest of the group.

England's recent results have improved despite their broader difficulties in the 50-over format. They have won three successive ODI series this year, beating Sri Lanka away before home victories over Sri Lanka and India. Before travelling to Australia, they are also scheduled to contest a 50-over tri-series in Pakistan against the hosts and Sri Lanka later this month.

The Waca booking contrasts with preparations for last winter's Ashes. England played a single internal warm-up at Lilac Hill, a club ground, before that series. At the time, the England and Wales Cricket Board said it had been told the Waca was unavailable. England subsequently lost the Perth opener inside two days and conceded the series after three Tests.

Since that defeat, the ECB and Cricket Australia have discussed reciprocal arrangements to improve touring teams' Ashes preparation. Warm-ups are also scheduled before England's Test visits to South Africa and Bangladesh and the anniversary Test in Melbourne in March. Those fixtures were arranged before Stephen Fleming replaced McCullum as Test coach this summer, BBC Sport reported.

The Australian white-ball tour runs from 13 November to 2 December and comprises three ODIs and five T20 internationals. The first ODI will be played at Perth's Optus Stadium.