Ollie Pope Strengthens Status to England Cricket's No 3 Role with Strong 90 Against Lions

It is hard to determine how relevant of the English team's warm-up match will prove relevant when their Ashes contest begins a short distance away at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in significance and environment – but if it achieved only strengthening Pope's assurance, that alone has rendered the endeavor worthwhile.

The English side's No 3 – this fact is certainly totally clear – followed his initial innings century by adding a further 90 in the second innings, and what was impressive was less about the total of scored runs but the way in which they were made. At times the 27-year-old looked commanding, smashing a dozen boundaries and a couple of maximums, connecting with the ball beautifully but with fierce purpose.

It was only a friendly against a England Lions squad that deployed exactly 11 pitchers during a match held in before a few dozen of spectators in a open field, but it was nevertheless very impressive. For the record, England, chasing of 202 after the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets after Jamie Smith raced the team over the winning target with a series of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the two other big first-innings' performers, both failed in the second knock, while Root made additional runs – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more assured, then being puzzled and accordingly dismissed by Will Jacks. Harry Brook met an similar end a little later.

Bashir – who finished the fixture having bowled 12 bowling spells for each side – will have faced part of the batting he bowled to pretty aggressive. His opening six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney tucking in to pitching that if not completely wayward was certainly not overly threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth of that period, England's remaining three pitchers had given away almost precisely the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a slightly less generous later on, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He took one wicket, holding a clever, low catch, falling to his right, to finish Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, from 80 balls.

Bethell, making up for scoring only a small score in the first innings, was among three half-centurions in the Lions team's top four. Ben McKinney's performances from opener were more consistent than those of their number three: he made 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their second innings, taking 61 deliveries to reach his half-century, with five and a couple six-hit shots, both against Bashir's's pitching. Bethell made 68 prior to a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover position, who held a low catch at ankle height.

Jordan Cox showed comparable reliability, and built on his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He played some remarkably beautiful hits on the way, such as a drive down the ground and a pull shot against consecutive Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

After missing the initial day of this game with a stomach issue and made merely the smallest of inputs to the second day, Brydon Carse bowled brilliantly when eventually afforded the shot, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three dismissals.

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