Ollie Pope Reinforces Status to England's No 3 Spot with Bold 90 Versus Lions

It's tough to know how relevant of the English team's practice match will prove meaningful when their Ashes series battle begins a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in significance and environment – but if it achieved only enhancing Ollie Pope's self-belief, that alone has rendered the exercise worthwhile.

England's No 3 – that much is surely absolutely established – built on his initial innings century by adding another 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was impressive was not merely the quantity of scored runs but the way in which they were scored. At times the 27-year-old appeared commanding, striking a dozen fours and a pair of sixes, timing the ball perfectly but with aggressive determination.

It was just a practice match versus a Lions team that employed a total of 11 bowlers throughout a contest held in amid a small group of spectators in a public park, but it was nevertheless hugely praiseworthy. Officially, the England team, needing of 202 following the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets in hand when Smith sped the team past the winning target with a series of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings successes, both failed in the follow-up, while Root scored additional runs – 31 on this time – but was not enormously more dominant, then being bemused and subsequently out by Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an similar fate shortly after.

Bashir – who concluded the game having bowled 12 bowling spells for each side – will have found part of the batting he confronted quite hostile. His first six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not completely wayward was surely not overly intimidating.

At the end the sixth over of those deliveries, England's other bowlers had allowed roughly the identical total of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler grew a somewhat less leaky as time passed, allowing 27 from his final six. He took a single wicket, taking a sharp, diving grab, leaning to his right, to conclude Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for scoring just three runs in the opening knock, was among a trio of fifty-scorers in the Lions' leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's returns from opener were more reliable than those of their No 3: he notched 66 in their first innings and improved by two in their second, facing 61 balls for his fifty, with five fours and a couple sixes, each from Bashir's deliveries. Bethell reached 68 prior to a poor shot to Stokes at cover, who took a low catch at shin level.

Jordan Cox displayed comparable consistency, and built on his first-innings 53 with another 57, at just over a run a ball. He played some outstandingly handsome hits during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a pull from consecutive Brydon Carse balls to reach his fifty.

Having missed the initial day of this fixture with a stomach upset and contributed only the smallest of efforts to the follow-up, Carse bowled excellently when eventually given the chance, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three dismissals.

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