Pope Reinforces Claim to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It's tough to know how relevant of England's practice game will be remotely relevant when their Ashes series battle starts 10km away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in space or time but worlds away in importance and mood – but if it managed only strengthening Ollie Pope's self-belief, that by itself has made the endeavor valuable.

The English side's number three batsman – this fact is undoubtedly absolutely certain – built on his first-innings century by adding another 90 in the second innings, and what was remarkable was less about the quantity of runs but the style in which they were scored. Periodically the 27-year-old seemed imperious, smashing a dozen boundaries and a pair of sixes, connecting with the ball perfectly but with aggressive determination.

This was just a practice match versus a Lions side that deployed a total of 11 pitchers across a game played in before a small group of people in a local ground, but it was nevertheless extremely impressive. For the record, the England team, needing of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets after Smith sped the team past the finish line with a stream of boundaries.

Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining major first-innings' achievers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Root added further points – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more assured, then being bemused and accordingly dismissed by Jacks. Brook suffered an identical end a little later.

Bashir – who finished the match having bowled 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have encountered part of the hitting he bowled to quite challenging. His initial six deliveries against the Lions cost 56, with McKinney tucking in to bowling that if not exactly poor was definitely not overly intimidating.

After the sixth over of those deliveries, the English side's remaining three bowlers had given away nearly exactly the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler grew a slightly less generous as time passed, conceding 27 from his last six. He secured one wicket, holding a clever, low catch, falling to his right side, to finish Bethell's knock for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for achieving merely three runs in the first innings, was a member of three players half-centurions in the Lions' top four. McKinney's scores from opener were steadier than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their initial knock and scored 68 in their second innings, using 61 deliveries over his half-century, with five boundaries and a couple sixes, both off Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell reached 68 before a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover position, who took a stooping grab at low down.

Jordan Cox displayed comparable consistency, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He produced some exceptionally handsome hits during his innings, including a drive down the ground and a pull shot from successive Carse deliveries to attain his fifty.

After missing the opening day of this fixture with a stomach issue and contributed just the most minor of efforts to the second, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when finally afforded the shot, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three scalps.

This report will update