Tour match - friendly

England 349-6d drew with WACA XI 342

CRAIG Overton took 2-70 as England drew their opening warm-up match of the 2017/18 Ashes tour against a Western Australia XI in Perth.

Having seen the majority of their batsmen get good practice under their belts on day one - four made half-centuries in England's 349-6 - the tourists declared overnight at the halfway point of the two-day friendly.

Their bowlers were initially given a tough time by former Taunton CC overseas professional Josh Phillipe, who struck a superb 88 at the top of the order which came just 92 balls and included 16 boundaries.

Phillipe had added 80 for the first wicket with Jake Carder before Overton made the first breakthrough, having the latter caught by Gary Ballance at fine leg attempting a hook.

James Anderson picked up 4-27 as England began to turn the screw in the afternoon, but the relaxed nature of the encounter saw several batsmen come back out for a second innings as the visitors agreed to let the hosts carry on batting in order to provide the bowlers with match practice.

Overton picked up a second scalp in the evening session to end with figures of 2-70 from 13 overs - his rival for the pace spot, Jake Ball, claimed 1-31 from 12.

England's next tour match is against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide on Wednesday morning (3.30am).