Ollie Pope Strengthens Claim to England's No 3 Slot with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It's hard to gauge how relevant of the English team's preparatory game will prove important when their Ashes series contest starts a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – no distance in space or time but light years away in importance and mood – but if it accomplished solely strengthening Pope's self-belief, that by itself has rendered the exercise worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – this fact is surely totally established – followed his initial innings ton by notching a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was remarkable was less about the total of runs but the style in which they were accumulated. On occasion the player seemed commanding, smashing a dozen boundaries and a pair of maximums, hitting the ball perfectly but with fierce determination.

This was just a practice match against a Lions side that used a total of 11 pitchers throughout a game staged in before a handful of onlookers in a open field, but it was nevertheless extremely noteworthy. Officially, the England team, chasing of 202 once the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets in hand once Smith sped the team across the conclusion with a stream of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining significant first-innings' achievers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Root made additional runs – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more assured, then being confused and accordingly out by Will Jacks. Harry Brook suffered an similar end shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the fixture having bowled 12 bowling spells for each side – will have faced some of the batting he bowled to pretty challenging. His opening six deliveries versus the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not entirely poor was definitely not overly dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth over of those deliveries, England's three other pitchers had conceded roughly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a somewhat less leaky in time, allowing 27 from his remaining six. He took one dismissal, making a sharp, low catch, diving to his right, to end Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for managing merely three in the initial innings, was among a trio of players with fifties in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's scores from opening batsman were steadier than those from their No 3: he notched 66 in their first innings and scored 68 in their second innings, facing 61 balls over his half-century, with five and two sixes, the pair from Bashir's's deliveries. Jacob Bethell made 68 before a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who made a bending catch at low down.

Jordan Cox exhibited like consistency, and built on his first-innings 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a run a ball. There were a few outstandingly handsome shots during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a pull shot off consecutive Carse deliveries to attain his fifty.

Following his absence from the initial day of this fixture with a stomach upset and contributed merely the smallest of contributions to the second day, Brydon Carse bowled superbly when eventually afforded the chance, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three wickets.

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