Ollie Pope Strengthens Status to England Cricket's No 3 Spot with Bold 90 Versus Lions

It's tough to gauge how significant of the English team's preparatory match will be remotely important when their Ashes series battle kicks off a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – no distance in space or time but light years away in importance and atmosphere – but if it accomplished solely boosting Pope's confidence, that on its own has made the exercise worthwhile.

England's No 3 – that much is certainly completely established – followed his initial innings hundred by adding an additional 90 in the second innings, and what was impressive was less about the number of runs but the way in which they were made. On occasion the player seemed commanding, smashing a dozen fours and a couple of maximums, connecting with the ball sweetly but with devilish determination.

This was merely a practice match versus a Lions team that employed fully 11 pitchers across a match played in front of a small group of people in a public park, but it was nonetheless very impressive. Officially, the England team, chasing of 202 once the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, won by a margin of five wickets after Jamie Smith raced the team past the finish line with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the two other significant first-innings' achievers, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root scored several more points – 31 on this instance – but was far from more dominant, before being confused and accordingly bowled by Will Jacks. Brook met an identical fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the game having bowled 12 overs for either team – will have found part of the batting he bowled to pretty aggressive. His opening six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney taking advantage to bowling that if not completely wayward was surely not overly threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth of that period, the English side's remaining three pitchers had allowed roughly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less giving as time passed, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He claimed one wicket, making a sharp, low-down grab, diving to his right, to conclude Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Bethell, redeeming scoring just three runs in the opening knock, was a member of a trio of fifty-scorers in the Lions' top four. Ben McKinney's scores from opening batsman were steadier than those from their number three: he scored 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their second innings, facing 61 deliveries over his half-century, with five boundaries and a couple sixes, each from Bashir's bowling. Jacob Bethell made 68 before a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who made a bending grab at shin level.

Jordan Cox exhibited comparable consistency, and followed his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at just over a scoring rate of one. He played several remarkably handsome strokes during his innings, such as a straight hit and a hook off consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to attain his fifty.

Having missed the opening day of this fixture with a stomach upset and provided just the smallest of inputs to the follow-up, Brydon Carse bowled superbly when finally provided the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three dismissals.

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