New Delhi: England skipper Ben Stokes made a strong statement of intent ahead of the Ashes as he grabbed on the opening day of the team’s in-house warm-up clash against Andrew Flintoff’s Lions in Perth.

Stokes is playing his first competitive game since suffering a shoulder injury in July against India. He looked sharp and in rhythm at Lilac Hill, finishing off with figures of 4 for 45 in 12 overs. His efforts helped his team to restrict the Lions to 28 for five at tea with only Josh Tongue joining him among the wicket-takers.

Stokes has been under the scanner since arriving in Australia but he answered all the critics in the best possible way with the ball in hand. He took two wickets in each of the first two sessions, removing Tom Haines, Jacob Bethell, Jordan Coz and Rehan Ahmed

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