Cook acknowledges his first century of the Ashes tour

Alastair Cook hit a fluent 106, sharing 183 with Andrew Strauss as England enjoyed useful Test preparation in the drawn tour game with Western Australia.

The state side batted on to allow Luke Pomersbach to record a maiden century, then declared at 322-8.

Strauss struck 12 fours in his 88, but Geraint Jones edged to slip first ball.

Cook reached 100 from 158 balls, Ed Joyce added 73 and Chris Read a breezy 59 with two sixes as England compiled 356-5, Michael Vaughan not batting.

Essex left-hander Cook has scored 90 runs in his four Ashes knocks, with a best of 43 in the second innings at Brisbane.

The opening pair have got England away to steady starts in the Test matches but have not been able to put a big partnership together, 32 their best in four attempts.

Read did his chances no harm with a fluent half-century

It was a completely different story against a modest WA attack, with neither player looking in any difficulty until Strauss was bowled attempting a slog-sweep against left-arm spinner Aaron Heal.

Jones departed next ball, pushing nervously off the back foot at a short delivery from the slow bowler.

Cook was in dominant form and hit former Australia one-day seamer Brett Dorey for four successive boundaries, recording his hundred in 205 minutes, before retiring on 106 at tea.

It was Ed Joyce, a late replacement for Marcus Trescothick in the Ashes touring party, who was sent in at number four, and the Middlesex left-hander opened his account with two pulled boundaries off Heal.

Whether the latest failure by Jones, who has a top-score of only 33 in the Ashes series, will affect his chances of playing in the third Test remains to be seen.

His rival Read had an excellent day behind the stumps on Saturday and hit a huge six when he batted in the final session at number five.

Read added another maximum plus five fours, and after Ashley Giles failed at number six, Sajid Mahmood wielded the willow to good effect with 20 from 30 balls, featuring three fours and a six.