England captain Alastair Cook’s horror summer has continued, as his side battled on following his second ball dismissal to post 8-264 against the Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.

After winning the toss and electing to bat in the 50-over tour match, England got off to a shaky start thanks to a fierce opening spell from PM’s XI captain Brett Lee (2-22 from seven overs).

Despite being in desperate need of some time in the middle, Cook’s dry spell continued, caught behind for one when Lee got one to rise quickly just short of a length.

It means the England captain has averaged just 20.91 in his last 12 innings on Australian soil.

First drop Joe Root didn’t look any more confident at the crease, notching up one run from 14 deliveries when Lee trapped him lbw.

Opener Michael Carberry was lucky not to join them in the dressing room immediately courtesy of Lee, surviving a boisterous appeal for caught behind in the first over, then dropped whilst on two by Ben Cutting at mid-on.

Cutting eventually made amends when he dismissed Carberry on 47, with Lee taking an almost identical catch to the one Cutting dropped.

Gary Ballance (56) steadied the ship before slashing a James Muirhead (3-52) delivery straight to Alistair McDermott at gully.

Muirhead, a promising young legspinner from Victoria, had the English batsmen in all sorts when he got his length right – but also gave away plenty of runs with long hops and full tosses.

The 20-year-old bowled Eoin Morgan (4) when he played down the wrong line, and had Ravi Bopara (18) caught at first slip, as well as several other close chances.

England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler (61) and Tim Bresnan (36) put on a handy late partnership.