Lance Morris sent a clear and timely reminder of his quality by making a sterling return for Western Australia in their one-day clash with England at the WACA Ground on Saturday.

Having missed the entirety of last summer as he recovered from back surgery before being cut down by a side strain on the eve of this season, the 92-run tour game loss was one of the quickest bowlers in the country’s first appearance in State colours for 20 months.

But he showed no signs of rust, finishing with figures of 3-29 from 10 threatening overs in which he persistently presented challenges for the tourists.

Introduced into the attack in the eighth over, Morris made just about the perfect start, courtesy of England opener Tom Banton (14) poking the short and wide offering he produced with his second delivery straight to Cameron Bancroft at slip.

Having quickly settled into his rhythm, his main reward from a stand-out first spell came in the wicket of Joe Root for 13. The all-time leading run-scorer in the history of Test cricket was rushed into a pull shot by his pace and top-edged to fine leg, where his fellow tearaway Mahli Beardman completed a tumbling catch.

Morris then capped off a fine day by returning in the death overs to have No.10 Gus Atkinson caught at cover for seven.

WA coach Beau Casson said he was delighted to see Morris back in action, regardless of how he had performed.

“He’s been working incredibly hard for a number of years now,” Casson said.

“It’s a lonely existence sometimes, when you’re in the rehab group, and when you’ve been in there for a long, long time, I’m sure it’s very, very challenging to be able to stay optimistic, stay positive.

“I’m really proud of him to get some reward for the work he’s been putting in. Let’s hope he can continue to do that.”

England’s coach Brendon McCullum hailed the performance produced by Morris as “very impressive”.

“I thought he bowled a beautiful 10 overs,” McCullum said.

“Especially for someone who’s been off the scene for a while, to come back and to be able to locate the zone that he was wanting to in terms of his length, and then use his bounce (was impressive).

“He bowled good pace and got the rewards.”

WA were daring to dream of pulling off a massive upset when they reduced England to 6-150 in the 28th over of the first innings, but some lower-order fight led by veteran all-rounder Liam Dawson (44 not out) left them to chase a competitive victory target of 252.

Archer (3-34) and leg-spinner Adil Rashid (4-35) then proved too much to handle for their batting line-up as they were bowled out for 159 in the 33rd over.

Although Beardman was outshone by his fellow express paceman Morris, the 21-year-old’s figures of 0-53 from 10 overs belied how well he bowled.

The 21-year-old, who appears poised to make his One-Day International debut against England in the series opener at Optus Stadium on Friday, posed some problems for Banton in his new-ball spell and operated with good rhythm throughout the day.

Bancroft was also in the spotlight in his first match since former teammate Usman Khawaja came forward with his version of events around 2018’s sandpaper scandal, in which he was a central figure.

Some crisp cover drives which sent England’s spearhead Jofra Archer to the boundary were the highlights of the opener’s innings of 32 from 40 balls.

Although the result did not go their way, WA would have taken plenty from the chance to test themselves against international opposition, with some of their emerging talents in left-arm seamer Jordan Quiggin (2-35) and hard-hitting batsman Corey Wasley (41) and Will Malajczuk (18) showing promising glimpses.

More than 5000 fans made their way to the WACA to take in the contest — including the Barmy Army, who occupied one block of seats and serenaded the crowd with their traditional rendition of Jerusalem as England began their bowling innings.

And one the newly-redeveloped venue’s headline feature had a historic moment of its own, with Harry Brook (27) becoming the first player to hit a six into the adjacent 50-metre pool.

One of the three consecutive sixes England’s captain smashed Ashton Agar for bounced up off a concrete walkway and dropped into the water, thankfully avoiding any swimmers.