CRICKET/Ashes build-up: England captain Andrew Flintoff insists his players remain upbeat despite slumping to a 166-run defeat against a Prime Minister's XI in Canberra.
The England team made a terrible start to their Ashes tour at Manuka Oval as they were bowled out for 181 inside 39 overs after the Australian invitational side had posted a mammoth 347 for five.
Man of the match Phil Jaques laid the foundations by hitting 112 off 110 balls, before Shaun Marsh, 78 not out, and captain Cameron White (30) tormented England's bowlers late on.
England were then reduced to 24 for two after losing Marcus Trescothick and Alastair Cook inside seven overs.
And although Andrew Strauss (67) and Paul Collingwood (35) brought some stability to England's innings, the game was over as a contest when they, along with Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were out in quick succession.
However, Flintoff is confident his team will recover, with two three-day games scheduled before the start of their Ashes defence on November 23rd.
"I think it's fair to say we were outplayed by the Prime Minister's XI. They played some good cricket," said Flintoff.
"On previous tours we've started slowly and been beaten in warm-up games but we've bounced back quickly.
"Today was a one-day game and we're not going to get too despondent about it.
"Next week we've got the New South Wales game, in the longer form, and then we've got South Australia.
"We know we have to improve and we'll do that next week before the first Test in Brisbane.
"In the dressingroom, the confidence is fine. The lads are still upbeat, we've just got to keep working hard."
England lost three wickets to short deliveries, one of which saw Strauss caught off South Australia paceman Shaun Tait, who also dismissed Trescothick in the first over and bowled Flintoff to finish with figures of 3-21.
"I think the lads are aware of what's happened today," said Flintoff.
"Sometimes in one-day cricket, you're looking to score runs, you're looking to take the ball on a little bit more, but sometimes you play shots and take balls on which you probably wouldn't necessarily do in the longer form of the game.
"I'm sure the lads would have learned from today going into the three-day games next week."
Two of the few positives for England were that Flintoff (ankle) and Ashley Giles (hip) stepped up their recovery from lengthy injury lay-offs and took a wicket apiece.
Flintoff looked sharp as he bowled his full 10 overs, allaying concerns over his fitness.Prime Minister's XI Innings
Scoreboard
Prime Minister's XI innings
P A Jaques c Cook b Collingwood 112
T D Paine c G O Jones b Flintoff 6
M J Cosgrove c Strauss b Giles 24
T R Birt b Mahmood 40
S E Marsh not out 78
A C Voges c Pietersen b Anderson 39
C L White not out 30
Extras lb2 w9 nb7 pens 0 18
Total 5 wkts Innings Complete (50 overs) ... 347
Fall: 1-15 2-75 3-162 4-214 5-292 Did Not Bat: B Dorey, A M Ritchard, S W Tait, B W Hilfenhaus, M A Divin.
Bowling: Anderson 10 1 65 1 Flintoff 10 0 55 1 Mahmood 9 0 97 1 Panesar 3 0 17 0 Giles 8 0 53 1 Collingwood 10 0 58 1
England Innings
M E Trescothick c White b Tait 2
A J Strauss c Hilfenhaus b Tait 67
A N Cook c Paine b Hilfenhaus 4
P D Collingwood c Jaques b White 35
K P Pietersen c Paine b Hilfenhaus 7
A Flintoff b Tait 1 G O Jones not out 13
A F Giles run out 13
S I Mahmood st Paine b White 22
J M Anderson lbw b Ritchard 0
M S Panesar c White b Ritchard 1
Extras lb3 w9 nb4 pens 0 16
Total (38.4 overs) ... 181
Fall: 1-3 2-24 3-107 4-119 5-123 6-124 7-146 8-177 9-178
Bowling: Tait 8 2 21 3 Hilfenhaus 8 1 49 2 Dorey 5 0 27 0 Ritchard 4.4 0 24 2 White 7 0 32 2 Voges 2 0 13 0 Cosgrove 4 0 12 0
Prime Minister's XI beat England by 166 runs
