England captain Ben Stokes announced his readiness for the Ashes with six wickets on the first day of their in-house warm-up against Andrew Flintoff's Lions, though the occasion was marred somewhat as Mark Woods left early with an injury.
Stokes has not played since July, when he tore a shoulder muscle against India, but proved he is firmly on track for the opening Test by leading the attack at Lilac Hill.
He took two wickets in each of the first two sessions as he claimed four for 45 in 12 overs, with Josh Tongue the only other bowler to strike as the second string reached 208 for five at tea. Stokes later added two more wickets.
Stokes has been subjected to a stream of barbs from the local media since touching down in Perth but offered a reminder of his threat, dismissing Tom Haines, Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox and Rehan Ahmed in a pair of robust spells.
Bethell dragged a short ball to square leg having scored just two off 17 balls and looks increasingly unlikely to unseat Ollie Pope from the No3 slot. After a lean white-ball tour of New Zealand, Bethell needed to make a statement to up the pressure on the incumbent and was unable to deliver.
There were runs to be had on an outground offering generous bounce but modest pace, with Durham opener Ben McKinney making 67 before nicking Tongue just after lunch and Cox posting a lively 53.
Cox and Ahmed both shovelled Stokes bouncers to fine-leg as the all-rounder showed his ability to force the breakthroughs that Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood were unable to.
England left spinner Shoaib Bashir out of their XI, in a possible nod towards their intentions for the first Test, but he will get the chance to impress when the Lions bowl in the second innings.
Wood is now a doubt for England's first Ashes Test, though, and is facing a "precautionary scan" on a sore left hamstring.
He has been out of action for the last nine months following knee surgery and made his return to face the Lions.
The 35-year-old quick bowled eight overs before tea - four in each session - but left the field midway through the afternoon after experiencing discomfort in his second spell.
It seems unlikely the tourists would gamble on Wood's fitness when they name their XI at Optus Stadium on November 21, given the other seam options at their disposal.
