The Ashes

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Nathan McSweeney made an unbeaten double century as Australia A utterly dominated the second day of their unofficial Test with England Lions.

The 26-year-old, who played three Tests as an opener in late 2024, finished the day on 222 with his side on 554-7 and holding a first innings lead of 388 after they bowled out the Lions for 166 on day one.

The second-string captain batted the entire day, resuming on 40 having come in at number three, and his team piled on 399 runs over the course of Saturday's play.

Shoaib Bashir, on secondment from England's Ashes party, has figures of 0-115 from 25 overs, while seamers Nathan Gilchrist and Josh Hull took three wickets apiece but conceded 102 and 103 runs respectively.

Cooper Connolly (88) and Xavier Bartlett (83) also made half-centuries at Allan Border Field.

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Batter Jacob Bethell again failed to press his case for a place in England's Ashes XI as he was dismissed for 19 on day one of England Lions' match against Australia A.

Bethell miscued to cover off spinner Todd Murphy as the Lions were dismissed for 166 in Brisbane.

The 22-year-old left-hander was viewed as a possible member of England's Test side XI but has been unable usurp incumbent Ollie Pope.

Bethell's highest score in five innings on the white-ball tour to New Zealand was 24 and he made only four in his first knock in Australia, during the pre-series warm-up at Lilac Hill.

He made 70 in the second innings but has since made 44 in a four-day match against a Cricket Australia XI in Perth and then 16 in a pink-ball match in Canberra.

Jhye Richardson took 4-35 against the Lions, pushing his case for a Test place, as a strong Australia A side dominated day one.

After dismissing the Lions in 50 overs, the hosts reached 155-2 with highly-rated 23-year-old batter Campbell Kellaway making 71 from 75 balls.

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Australia bowler Josh Hazlewood has suffered a setback in his recovery from injury after reporting Achilles soreness during training this week.

Hazlewood, 34, one of the leading bowlers in the world, has not featured so far in the Ashes series against England, having been ruled out of the first Ashes Test against England in Perth with a hamstring issue.

He has been dogged by injuries in recent years - he has missed seven of Australia's Tests since the start of 2024 - including Achilles problems.

Australia say his setback is a "low-grade issue" and Hazlewood, who has taken 295 wickets in 76 Tests, is expected to return to running and bowling next week but it remains a blow to Australia.

The third Test begins in Adelaide on 17 December (23:30 GMT, 16 December) and is quickly followed by the fourth from 26 December and fifth from 4 January.

Australia have also been without captain and bowler Pat Cummins for the first two Ashes Tests as he recovers from a back injury.