Ollie Pope Reinforces Position to England's Number Three Role with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's difficult to gauge how much of the English team's practice fixture will be remotely relevant when their Ashes battle starts a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – a short span in geography or duration but light years away in importance and atmosphere – but if it achieved solely enhancing Ollie Pope's assurance, that by itself has rendered the endeavor valuable.

The English side's number three batsman – that point is undoubtedly absolutely clear – followed his initial innings century by notching a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and the truly impressive was less about the number of scored runs but the manner in which they were made. On occasion the young batsman looked imperious, striking a twelve fours and a pair of maximums, connecting with the ball sweetly but with aggressive determination.

It was merely a practice match against a Lions squad that used a total of 11 bowlers during a game held in before a few dozen of people in a open field, but it was still very noteworthy. For the record, England, set a target of 202 following the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets when Smith sped the team across the finish line with a stream of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Duckett, the other two major first-innings' achievers, both were dismissed in the second knock, while Root scored additional runs – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more convincing, prior to being bemused and accordingly dismissed by Will Jacks. Brook experienced an same outcome a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the match having delivered 12 overs for both teams – will have faced part of the batting he confronted pretty challenging. His first six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to bowling that if not entirely poor was certainly not very threatening.

At the end the sixth over of those deliveries, the English side's three other bowlers had conceded almost precisely the equivalent amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a somewhat less giving later on, giving up 27 from his last six. He claimed one wicket, taking a clever, low-down grab, diving to his right, to end Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, redeeming managing only three runs in the first innings, was a member of three players fifty-scorers in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's scores from opener were more consistent than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their second innings, facing 61 balls for his half-century, with five boundaries and two sixes, each against Bashir's bowling. Bethell reached 68 then a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover, who held a bending grab at low down.

Cox exhibited similar reliability, and followed his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run a ball. There were several outstandingly handsome hits during his innings, featuring a drive down the ground and a hook off consecutive Carse deliveries to attain his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the opening day of this game with a stomach upset and contributed just the least significant of contributions to the second, Brydon Carse bowled brilliantly when at last provided the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three wickets.

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