Ollie Pope Strengthens Position to England's Number Three Slot with Bold 90 Versus Lions

It's hard to know how much of England's practice match will be remotely relevant when their Ashes series campaign kicks off not far at Perth Stadium on Friday – a short span in geography or duration but worlds away in importance and mood – but if it achieved only strengthening Pope's assurance, that alone has made the exercise worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – this fact is certainly completely established – followed his initial innings ton by adding a further 90 in the second innings, and the truly notable was not merely the total of scored runs but the manner in which they were accumulated. On occasion the young batsman appeared dominant, hitting a dozen boundaries and a couple of maximums, connecting with the ball perfectly but with devilish intent.

It was merely a exhibition game against a England Lions squad that used exactly 11 pitchers across a game staged in front of a small group of onlookers in a open field, but it was still extremely praiseworthy. For the record, the England team, set a target of 202 once the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets when Smith sped the team over the conclusion with a series of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the two other significant first-innings' successes, both fell short in the follow-up, while Joe Root scored additional runs – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more assured, before being confused and accordingly out by Will Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an same end a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the game having bowled 12 overs for each side – will have encountered some of the batting he faced pretty challenging. His first six deliveries versus the Lions cost 56, with Ben McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not entirely poor was surely not very intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth of those deliveries, England's remaining three pitchers had conceded almost precisely the identical amount of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a somewhat less giving as time passed, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He secured a single wicket, making a clever, diving snare, falling to his right side, to end Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for scoring merely three runs in the initial innings, was a member of three players with fifties in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's scores from opener were steadier than those of their No 3: he scored 66 in their first innings and improved by two in their second innings, taking 61 balls for his fifty, with five fours and two maximums, both off Bashir's deliveries. Jacob Bethell made 68 then a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who made a stooping grab at low down.

Cox showed comparable reliability, and backed up his first-innings 53 with another 57, at just over a run a ball. There were a few exceptionally handsome strokes during his innings, including a straight hit and a hook from successive Carse balls to achieve his 50 runs.

Having missed the opening day of this match with a illness and made just the least significant of efforts to the second, Brydon Carse delivered excellently when at last given the chance, with McKinney and Cox among his three wickets.

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