It was low-key, one-sided and finished to a slow handclap from a sparse crowd, but Ravi Bopara insisted that England gained everything they could from this warm-up and are ready to “get stuck into” Australia when the Ashes series gets under way in Cardiff on Wednesday.

All of the XI, according to Bopara, expect to feature in the first Test despite the success of Stephen Harmison in the England Lions game against the touring side. “This was a good run-out,” Bopara said. “We looked on fire with the ball and all of the batsmen had a good hit. We are pretty relaxed.”

One disappointment for England was that morning rain denied Andrew Flintoff the opportunity of a final innings before the sterner challenge. A declaration at tea left Warwickshire 508 to win from a minimum of 29 overs. The captains shook hands at 5pm, the earliest opportunity.

Bopara, 88 not out overnight, completed his hundred with a six soon after play began at 2.15. He retired two balls later, leaving Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior to make half-centuries in increasing comfort.

Players and management kept half an eye on proceedings at Worcester throughout and it cannot have been coincidence that Stuart Broad subjected Ian Westwood, the diminutive left-handed opener, to a sequence of short-pitched balls. Phillip Hughes can expect the same next week.

It also meant England were quickly aware of Brett Lee's success on Thursday when he took the first five Lions wickets. “Pace and reverse swing are lethal,” Bopara said. “I hope it will not happen at Cardiff, but if it reverses for them it will reverse for us, too.”

Westwood quickly succumbed and Jim Troughton was run out in the same over after a misunderstanding with Jonathan Trott. Flintoff then proved too much for Ateeq Javid, tempting the young all-rounder to nick a ball to Andrew Strauss at slip.

If a practice match is to become a regular part of England's preparations, then the ECB should consider taking it to one of the non-Test grounds, where the appearance of the national side is treated as an occasion. Warwickshire gave the impression of this being an obligation.

England XI: First Innings 290 for 8 dec (A N Cook 124)Second Innings (overnight 185-2)
R S Bopara retired out 104
P D Collingwood not out 79
†M J Prior not out 50
Extras (lb 16, w 1, nb 2) 19
Total (3 wkts dec, 76 overs) 319
Fall of wickets: 1-109, 2-125, 3-208.
Bowling: Woakes 14-4-32-1; Rankin 13-0-55-1; Tahir 10-2-26-0; Clarke 5-0-27-0; Barker 12-2-44-0; Trott 10-0-44-0; Javid 12-0-75-0.

Warwickshire: First Innings 102 (J M Anderson 5 for 34)

Second Innings
*I J Westwood c Prior b Broad 5
I J L Trott not out 14
J O Troughton run out 0
A Javid c Strauss b Flintoff 3
†T R Ambrose not out 4
Extras (lb 1) 1
Total (3 wkts, 12 overs) 27
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-18.
Bowling: Anderson 4-1-6-0; Broad 4-1-16-1; Flintoff 4-3-4-1.
Umpires: A Hicks and R K Illingworth.