India, Oct. 5 -- Going forward, warm-ups are going to be very important for the English cricket team.

In the lead-up to the Ashes last year, they played just one warm-up and that too against their own tier two team, the English Lions, at Lilac Hill in conditions that were very different to those of the Perth Stadium, venue for the first Test. That they lost the Ashes 4-1 wasn't a surprising result for many.

England are now making a trip to Australia again, but this time for white-ball cricket, for three ODIs and five T20Is from November 13 to December 02. And guess what? There is a warm-up in the lead-up to the ODI series, against a Western Australia XI on November 7. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is learning fast, isn't it?...