Haseeb Hameed hit an unbeaten 53 and Rory Burns 39 as England began their Ashes tour in a low-key and rain-hit intra-squad warm-up game on Tuesday, played against the backdrop of a racism scandal back home.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Test superstars Joe Root, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson, and Ben Stokes were among the first wave of players to land in Brisbane on November 6 with their T20 World Cup contingent jetting in later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They have completed 14 days quarantine at a Gold Coast resort and experienced their first real taste of Australian conditions in the informal three-day game against the England Lions at Peter Burge Oval.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But rain restricted the opening day to just 29 overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Hameed struck eight boundaries and Burns found the ropes four times as an England XI made 98 without loss after winning the toss and opting to bat<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Zak Crawley is scheduled to come in at three followed by skipper Root, Stokes then Ollie Pope.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
While Broad was on the team sheet, his veteran fast-bowling partner Anderson was not.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Other absent Ashes squad members included Johnny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Mark Wood, who all played at the T20 World Cup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The five-Test tour got underway amid a growing racism scandal surrounding the treatment of Root's former Yorkshire teammate Azeem Rafiq.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pakistan-born Rafiq told a parliamentary inquiry this month how racist language was "constantly" used during his two spells at the county club.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He made several allegations against high-profile individuals, including former England players Gary Ballance, Tim Bresnan, Matthew Hoggard, and Alex Hales.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In comments from England's Gold Coast base on November 12, Root demanded change but claimed he had not witnessed racist incidents during his time at Yorkshire.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He has not spoken publicly since and there have been no media opportunities with the England squad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Australia have their own problems heading into the first Test at Brisbane on December 8 -- Tim Paine quit as captain last week over a sexting scandal. Pat Cummins or Steve Smith is expected to take the reins.<\/p>\r\n\r\n