England's Four Nations countdown begins with Cumbria fundraiser

England began their countdown to a Four Nations series in Australia and New Zealand by being held to an 18-18 draw by Cumbria in Whitehaven today. But the coach Steve McNamara said there was no need for anyone to be embarrassed after an emotional occasion that raised around £50,000 for the family of Garry Purdham, the former Workington and Whitehaven forward who was one of the victims of the 2 June shootings in the county. "I think everyone has gone away reasonably happy," said McNamara, who will name his Four Nations squad in Brighouse tomorrow. "It was not an embarrassing result at all. "It was an absolutely great game and gave us what we needed. The conditions were tremendously tough and we weren't great by any means. It was a scruffy old game. But it achieved what it was meant to achieve. We raised a whole lot of money for the Purdham family and we gave some players the game time they needed. "We took some players off at half-time and didn't use them again. The purpose was to help us make some decisions and it's certainly done that." McNamara did not consider any players from Leeds, Huddersfield or the Super League Grand Finalists, Wigan and St Helens, and also allowed the likely Four Nations captain, Adrian Morley, to take a breather. But it was a Cumbria team captained by Purdham's younger brother Rob who emerged the moral victors in front of a 5,525 crowd at the Recreation Ground. Purdham, the Harlequins captain, set up a try for John Paul Brocklebank, one of two players from Garry's old amateur club Egremont Rangers in the Cumbria side, and the Whitehaven centre Scott McAvoy then snatched a draw. The day's other representative fixture between Wales and Italy was postponed because of Ryder Cup style rain in Wrexham, meaning that Gareth Thomas will have to wait until Wednesday to become a dual code international.