Pope Reinforces Claim to England Cricket's Number Three Role with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's hard to determine how significant of England's practice fixture will end up being meaningful when their Ashes campaign kicks off a short distance away at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a short span in space or time but ages away in significance and environment – but if it accomplished solely enhancing Ollie Pope's assurance, that alone has made the exercise beneficial.

England's No 3 – that point is certainly totally clear – built on his first-innings century by adding a further 90 in the second innings, and the most impressive was not so much the total of runs but the way in which they were made. Periodically the player seemed dominant, smashing a twelve fours and a two of maximums, connecting with the ball perfectly but with devilish determination.

It was just a practice match versus a Lions team that deployed a total of 11 pitchers across a contest staged in before a handful of people in a local ground, but it was still very praiseworthy. To note, the England team, chasing of 202 after the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets in hand after Smith raced the team past the conclusion with a stream of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining significant first-innings' performers, both failed in the second knock, while Root scored several more points – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more dominant, prior to being puzzled and subsequently out by Jacks. Brook met an similar fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the game having delivered 12 overs for each side – will have faced some of the strokes he bowled to pretty aggressive. His first six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not completely wayward was certainly far from dangerous.

After the sixth spell of that period, England's remaining three pitchers had allowed roughly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a slightly less generous in time, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He secured one wicket, holding a clever, low snare, falling to his right side, to end Bethell's innings for 70, from 80 balls.

Bethell, compensating for managing only three in the initial innings, was one of three players half-centurions in the Lions team's top order. McKinney's performances from opening batsman were more reliable than those of their No 3: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and went two better in their follow-up, using 61 deliveries for his fifty, with five and a couple six-hit shots, the pair from Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell made 68 prior to a poor shot to Stokes at cover, who made a stooping catch at low down.

Cox displayed similar consistency, and built on his first-innings 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. There were several exceptionally beautiful shots during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a hook against consecutive Carse deliveries to reach his fifty.

Having missed the initial day of this match with a illness and made just the most minor of contributions to the second day, Brydon Carse delivered superbly when at last provided the shot, with Ben McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

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