England given Ashes warm-up warning as they prepare for Andrew Flintoff’s Lions

Josh Hull is hoping to give England’s Ashes stars a thorough workout in this week’s warm-up match in Perth and insisted England Lions are not there to play the Test side into form.

Head coach Brendon McCullum has opted against any tour matches against local opposition ahead of the marquee series, taking preparations in-house with a three-day clash against Andrew Flintoff’s second string at Perth’s Lilac Hill.

The standard of domestic opponents has not always been reliable and England are banking on Thursday’s internal fixture being enough to sharpen their competitive edge ahead of the first match at Optus Stadium on November 21.

And Hull, a once-capped seamer who at the age of 21 remains firmly on the management radar, is hoping to do his bit by making life hard.

The 6ft 7in left-armer, who was handed a surprise international debut in 2024 after only a handful of first-class games, told the PA news agency: “For England you want the batters to be in good form and whacking it about but once you get into the battle, my job as bowler is trying to take wickets for the Lions.

“There’s obviously two sides to it but my main job is to get those guys out. You want them to have a good run out and feel good but we’ll play our part by being really competitive.

“We’ve got some big names to bowl at, be it (Joe) Root or (Harry) Brook or the two openers who can be really difficult to bowl at. It’s a great test for us and it’s really exciting.

“Hopefully I can get a bit more out of the pitches than I do at home, they’re a lot bouncier and that could be really helpful.”

Hull also has another role to play by steeling the England batters for the tall, left-arm delivery angle of Australia paceman Mitchell Starc.

It was Starc who clean bowled Rory Burns with the first ball of the 2021-22 series and, while Hull makes no pretence towards being in the league of an all-timer with 402 Test scalps to his name, he is in a small group who can replicate some of his key qualities.

“There haven’t been any specific conversations around that but in terms of being ‘like for like’ I’m most similar to Starc,” he said.

“He’s obviously a lot better than I am and he’s someone I’ve idolised massively. If I can do something similar to him that would be handy but we’ll see when we get out there.

England will dip into the Lions group should they require any reinforcements mid-tour but Hull is keeping thoughts of restarting his senior career on the back burner.

“My focus is on the Lions at the minute, bowling as well as I possibly can and seeing where I’m at,” he said.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself since I played my Test and there’s been some times where it’s really clicked. I’ve got a good idea of where my areas are to get people out and it’s about doing that more consistently.”