Bethell fails to push Test case as Lions beat PM XI

Jacob Bethell averages 38.71 in four Tests

Tour match, Manuka Oval, Canberra (day two of two)

Prime Minister's XI 308-8d: Kellaway 82, McSweeney 63, Peake 54; Potts 2-40

England Lions 309-2: James Rew 92*, Haines 77, Tribe 53*

England Lions won by eight wickets

Scorecard

Jacob Bethell failed to push his claim for a place in England's Test team as he fell cheaply in England Lions' eight-wicket win over a Prime Minister's XI.

Bethell, 22, is the spare batter in England's squad and one of three players - alongside bowlers Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts - released to play in the two-day pink-ball warm-up match in Canberra.

He made just 16 before he was tamely caught behind off left-armer Campbell Thompson.

It was agreed on day two to turn the game into a one-innings affair, meaning the Lions needed 309 to win at Manuka Oval.

They resumed on 30-0 and Tom Haines (77) and Emilio Gay (56) pushed that to 114-0 before the latter retired hurt after feeling his hamstring when turning for a run.

Bethell came out at three and struck two fours before falling.

Captain Haines fell soon after to leave the Lions 172-2, but Somerset's James Rew (92 not out) and Glamorgan's Asa Tribe (53 not out) put on an unbroken 137 to get them over the line in the final session.

The PM XI posted 308-8 declared on the opening day with Potts claiming 2-40 and Tongue going wicketless.

"That was a great performance from all of the lads. We haven't played a lot of pink-ball cricket between us but that didn't show in the way we played," Haines said.

"It was good to chip in with the ball and then to make some runs myself. The bowlers turned it around last night and then all our batters showed their quality to reach that target."

'Debatable if England's batters would have benefited' - analysis

Despite the upcoming second Test also being a pink-ball match, it's debatable whether England's Test batters would have benefited significantly from being here.

The match was low key, played in gentle surroundings and with none of the feverish intensity expected at the Gabba.

The PM XI's attack was willing but inexperienced, apart from 41-year-old former Australian seamer Peter Siddle. The other four pace bowlers on show had six first-class wickets between them.

The weather conditions will be completely different in Brisbane too. It was 12 degrees centigrade when the game finished - Tim Paine, the coach of the home team, was wrapped in a blanket as he watched on.

Tongue had a solid workout on the first day. He bowled with control and good pace in his 16 overs and although he went wicketless, he had two catches dropped.

Bethell, however, missed the chance to make the most of a good batting pitch. He fell to a tame dismissal against a bowler who is yet to make his first-class debut.

Bethell made an untroubled start against the off-spin of Nathan McSweeney, and Siddle. He took two boundaries off Siddle through the offside, one cut through backward point, the other guided to deep third.

He then pushed at a ball in the channel outside off-stump against the tall left-arm pace bowler Campbell Thompson and feathered a low catch through to wicketkeeper Joel Curtis.

Bethell has only passed fifty once in the nine white, red and pink-ball innings he has played since leaving the UK in early November.