Ollie Pope Reinforces Status to England Cricket's Number Three Role with Impressive 90 Versus Lions

It's difficult to know how relevant of the English team's warm-up game will prove meaningful when their Ashes series battle begins not far at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a short span in space or time but ages away in importance and atmosphere – but if it accomplished only strengthening Ollie Pope's confidence, that alone has rendered the exercise valuable.

England's No 3 – that much is surely totally certain – built on his first-innings century by notching an additional 90 in the second, and the truly notable was not merely the quantity of runs but the way in which they were accumulated. Periodically the 27-year-old seemed dominant, smashing a dozen boundaries and a pair of maximums, timing the ball perfectly but with fierce purpose.

It was merely a practice match against a England Lions side that employed fully 11 bowlers throughout a contest held in amid a small group of people in a public park, but it was nonetheless hugely noteworthy. For the record, England, set a target of 202 following the Lions ended their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand after Jamie Smith sped the team past the winning target with a series of boundaries.

Crawley and Duckett, the remaining big first-innings' achievers, both failed in the second innings, while Joe Root made additional points – 31 on this occasion – but was not significantly more convincing, then being confused and subsequently dismissed by Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an identical fate shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the match having delivered 12 overs for either team – will have found a portion of the strokes he faced rather challenging. His opening six overs versus the Lions went for 56, with McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not completely loose was certainly not very dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those deliveries, England's three other bowlers had conceded nearly exactly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a somewhat less leaky in time, giving up 27 from his last six. He took one dismissal, making a clever, low-down catch, diving to his right, to conclude Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for managing only three runs in the first innings, was a member of three players players with fifties in the Lions team's leading batsmen. McKinney's performances from opener were more consistent than those of their number three: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and went two better in their second innings, facing 61 deliveries over his fifty, with five and two six-hit shots, the pair from Bashir's deliveries. Jacob Bethell reached 68 prior to a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover position, who made a low grab at ankle height.

Jordan Cox displayed like consistency, and followed his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at just over a run per delivery. There were some remarkably handsome strokes on the way, such as a straight drive and a hook from successive Carse deliveries to attain his fifty.

After missing the initial day of this game with a illness and contributed merely the least significant of efforts to the second, Brydon Carse pitched brilliantly when at last afforded the shot, with Ben McKinney and Cox among his three scalps.

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