Gregory strikes twice but England Lions toil for wickets against Australian XI

Centuries from Travis Head and Matthew Wade ensured the Australian XI gained the upper hand on day one of their game against England Lions at Canterbury.

Lions captain Lewis Gregory made an early breakthrough, trapping Joe Burns in front of the wicket for 19, and he picked up another in the 26^th over when Burns’ Test opening partner Marcus Harris edged to Ollie Robinson at slip.

Porter bowled Kurtis Patterson after lunch, which brought the in-form Wade to the crease. He and Head put on 219 for the fourth wicket before Sam Curran eventually ended to partnership in the day’s final hour, with Wade LBW for 114.

Head remains unbeaten on 130 overnight and will resume in the morning with Mitchell Marsh, who reached 24 at the close, with the tourists 362/4.

Quotes

Lewis Gregory: “It was never going to be easy to take wickets against a batting line-up of this calibre but I’m proud of the way the boys stuck at it today. We kept it in the right areas and continued to be aggressive, even when wickets weren’t coming.

“Jamie Porter bowled well with the new ball and was dependable whenever I brought him back into the attack. And it’s always a nice luxury to have seamers of the quality of Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson to rotate throughout the day.

“While it’s never enjoyable to concede 350 in a day, it is a great challenge for our guys to work out how to take wickets against some world class batsmen.”