Ollie Pope Strengthens Position to England's Number Three Spot with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It's hard to determine how relevant of England's preparatory game will end up being meaningful when their Ashes series battle begins a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – no distance in space or time but worlds away in import and mood – but if it accomplished only enhancing Pope's assurance, that by itself has rendered the effort worthwhile.

The English side's No 3 – this fact is certainly totally established – built on his first-innings hundred by scoring a further 90 in the second innings, and what was remarkable was not merely the quantity of runs but the way in which they were scored. Periodically the player seemed dominant, hitting a dozen boundaries and a pair of maximums, timing the ball beautifully but with devilish purpose.

This was merely a practice match against a Lions squad that deployed fully 11 bowlers throughout a contest held in amid a few dozen of spectators in a local ground, but it was nonetheless very noteworthy. To note, England, chasing of 202 after the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by a margin of five wickets after Smith raced the team past the finish line with a stream of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Duckett, the remaining major first-innings successes, both failed in the second knock, while Root made several more points – 31 on this occasion – but was not significantly more assured, before being bemused and duly dismissed by Jacks. Brook suffered an similar outcome a little later.

Bashir – who ended the fixture having bowled 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have faced a portion of the batting he confronted pretty hostile. His opening six overs against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not completely poor was certainly not very intimidating.

At the end the sixth spell of that period, England's remaining three bowlers had given away roughly the identical number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a somewhat less giving later on, conceding 27 from his final six. He claimed a single wicket, holding a smart, low snare, falling to his right, to finish Jacob Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, making up for scoring only a small score in the opening knock, was a member of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions team's top four. Ben McKinney's scores from opener were steadier than those from their No 3: he made 66 in their first innings and scored 68 in their second innings, taking 61 deliveries to reach his fifty, with five fours and a couple maximums, each against Bashir's deliveries. Bethell made 68 before a mis-hit to Stokes at cover position, who took a stooping catch at low down.

Cox showed similar reliability, and followed his first-innings 53 with another 57, at just over a scoring rate of one. He played several outstandingly elegant shots on the way, featuring a drive down the ground and a pull shot off successive Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the first day of this match with a stomach upset and provided only the least significant of contributions to the follow-up, Brydon Carse pitched brilliantly when eventually provided the opportunity, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three scalps.

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