Saqib Mahmood and Rory Burns kicked off England's first day of competitive cricket since March 13, as a Ben Stokes XI took the field against a side captained by Jos Buttler at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
Mahmood was handed the opening over at Burns and got the three-day warm-up under way with a loosener that sailed for four byes down the leg-side, with James Anderson also bowling on the opening morning.
The very sight of the country's leading red-ball players competing again, for the first time since abandoning their tour of Sri Lanka as the coronavirus pandemic took hold more than three months ago, was a major boost for all the nation's cricket fans.