Criticism of England's truncated preparation for this summer's Ashes series appears to have irked touring captain Ben Stokes.

The England team gathered for a training session in Perth on Wednesday, a day after the full contingent landed in Australia, less than two weeks before the first Test.

Stokes's side will play a three-day match against an England Lions XI, starting on Thursday, after playing six limited-overs matches in New Zealand last month.

Some former players, including England legend Ian Botham, have questioned the lack of warm-up matches for the tourists ahead of the five-Test series.

But Stokes said the team's options were limited.

"We've been preparing for this tour not [just] over the last three weeks; we've been putting a lot of thought and process into this for the

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