Ollie Pope Reinforces Status to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Strong 90 Against Lions

It is hard to determine how much of the English team's preparatory game will be remotely meaningful when their Ashes series contest kicks off not far at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – no distance in geography or duration but light years away in import and environment – but if it managed nothing more than strengthening Pope's self-belief, that alone has made the endeavor worthwhile.

The English side's No 3 – that much is surely absolutely clear – built on his initial innings ton by adding a further 90 in the second innings, and the truly notable was not so much the total of runs but the style in which they were scored. At times the player seemed imperious, hitting a twelve fours and a two of sixes, connecting with the ball perfectly but with aggressive intent.

This was just a exhibition game versus a Lions squad that used fully 11 pitchers during a game staged in front of a small group of onlookers in a public park, but it was still hugely noteworthy. To note, the England team, needing of 202 after the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand when Smith hurried the team past the conclusion with a series of boundaries.

Crawley and Duckett, the two other significant first-innings' performers, both failed in the second knock, while Root added several more runs – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more dominant, prior to being puzzled and accordingly bowled by Jacks. Harry Brook met an identical fate shortly after.

Bashir – who concluded the game having bowled 12 bowling spells for either team – will have encountered a portion of the batting he confronted pretty hostile. His initial six deliveries against the Lions cost 56, with McKinney feasting to bowling that if not exactly poor was surely not overly dangerous.

After the sixth spell of those overs, the English side's other pitchers had allowed nearly exactly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a slightly less generous later on, conceding 27 from his final six. He took one dismissal, holding a smart, low-down grab, falling to his right side, to end Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, redeeming achieving just a small score in the initial innings, was a member of a trio of fifty-scorers in the Lions' top order. Ben McKinney's scores from opening batsman were more consistent than those from their number three: he scored 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their follow-up, using 61 deliveries for his half-century, with five fours and two maximums, the pair against Bashir's deliveries. Bethell reached 68 before a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover, who took a stooping catch at low down.

Jordan Cox showed like reliability, and followed his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a run a ball. He played several outstandingly elegant shots during his innings, including a drive down the ground and a pull shot from successive Brydon Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

After missing the opening day of this fixture with a stomach issue and made merely the most minor of inputs to the second day, Carse pitched superbly when eventually given the chance, with McKinney and Cox part of his three wickets.

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