Ollie Pope Strengthens Claim to England's No 3 Role with Bold 90 Against Lions

It is tough to gauge how much of England's preparatory game will prove relevant when their Ashes battle kicks off 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – no distance in space or time but light years away in import and mood – but if it achieved solely boosting Pope's self-belief, that alone has made the endeavor valuable.

England's number three batsman – that much is certainly totally certain – built on his first-innings century by adding another 90 in the second innings, and the most notable was not merely the quantity of runs but the manner in which they were accumulated. On occasion the player appeared imperious, smashing a dozen boundaries and a two of sixes, hitting the ball beautifully but with aggressive intent.

It was only a practice match against a Lions side that employed exactly 11 pitchers across a game staged in front of a few dozen of onlookers in a local ground, but it was nonetheless very noteworthy. For the record, the England team, chasing of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith sped the team past the conclusion with a stream of boundaries.

Crawley and Duckett, the other two big first-innings' successes, both failed in the second knock, while Root added additional runs – 31 on this occasion – but was not significantly more dominant, before being bemused and subsequently bowled by Jacks. Harry Brook met an same outcome soon afterwards.

Bashir – who concluded the game having delivered 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have found a portion of the batting he confronted pretty challenging. His first six overs versus the Lions cost 56, with McKinney feasting to bowling that if not completely loose was definitely not overly dangerous.

At the end the sixth spell of those deliveries, the English side's three other pitchers had given away nearly exactly the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a somewhat less generous in time, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He secured one dismissal, making a sharp, low snare, diving to his right, to end Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, making up for managing merely three runs in the opening knock, was among three players players with fifties in the Lions team's top four. Ben McKinney's scores from opening batsman were more consistent than the scores of their No 3: he made 66 in their first batting effort and went two better in their follow-up, taking 61 balls for his fifty, with five fours and two maximums, each off Bashir's deliveries. Jacob Bethell got to 68 prior to a poor shot to Stokes at cover, who made a bending grab at shin level.

Jordan Cox displayed comparable reliability, and backed up his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run a ball. He produced several outstandingly beautiful hits en route, such as a straight hit and a pull shot against successive Carse deliveries to achieve his fifty.

Following his absence from the initial day of this fixture with a illness and contributed just the smallest of efforts to the follow-up, Brydon Carse bowled excellently when eventually afforded the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three wickets.

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