Pope Reinforces Claim to England Cricket's No 3 Spot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It's tough to gauge how relevant of the English team's preparatory fixture will end up being important when their Ashes battle begins a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in space or time but light years away in import and atmosphere – but if it accomplished nothing more than strengthening Ollie Pope's self-belief, that alone has rendered the endeavor valuable.

The English side's No 3 – that point is undoubtedly totally clear – followed his initial innings hundred by adding another 90 in the second, and the most remarkable was not merely the total of runs but the way in which they were made. On occasion the young batsman appeared commanding, hitting a twelve boundaries and a pair of maximums, timing the ball beautifully but with fierce determination.

This was merely a friendly versus a England Lions side that deployed fully 11 bowlers throughout a match played in front of a few dozen of onlookers in a local ground, but it was nevertheless extremely impressive. To note, the England team, chasing of 202 once the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets when Smith raced the team past the finish line with a stream of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Duckett, the other two significant first-innings' achievers, both fell short in the second knock, while Root added additional points – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more assured, prior to being confused and duly bowled by Will Jacks. Harry Brook suffered an similar fate shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the match having delivered 12 bowling spells for each side – will have found a portion of the strokes he bowled to pretty hostile. His first six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not entirely wayward was certainly not overly intimidating.

At the end the sixth over of that period, England's remaining three bowlers had allowed roughly the same number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a somewhat less generous later on, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He took one dismissal, holding a sharp, low-down snare, falling to his right, to finish Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for managing only a small score in the initial innings, was one of three players players with fifties in the Lions' top four. McKinney's scores from opening batsman were more consistent than the scores of their number three: he made 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their second innings, taking 61 deliveries for his fifty, with five boundaries and two sixes, each off Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell reached 68 before a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who held a stooping catch at low down.

Cox displayed similar reliability, and followed his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He played a few remarkably beautiful shots en route, featuring a straight hit and a hook off successive Brydon Carse deliveries to attain his fifty.

Following his absence from the initial day of this match with a illness and contributed merely the smallest of contributions to the second day, Carse bowled excellently when at last provided the chance, with McKinney and Cox part of his three wickets.

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