Ollie Pope Strengthens Claim to England's Number Three Slot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It is tough to gauge how significant of England's warm-up match will prove important when their Ashes campaign begins not far at Perth Stadium on Friday – no distance in geography or duration but worlds away in import and environment – but if it achieved nothing more than boosting Pope's self-belief, that on its own has rendered the endeavor beneficial.

England's number three batsman – that point is undoubtedly totally certain – followed his first-innings ton by notching an additional 90 in the follow-up innings, and the truly notable was not so much the number of runs but the style in which they were scored. At times the young batsman appeared dominant, hitting a dozen fours and a couple of sixes, hitting the ball sweetly but with devilish determination.

This was merely a friendly versus a Lions side that deployed exactly 11 bowlers during a match staged in before a handful of spectators in a local ground, but it was nevertheless extremely noteworthy. For the record, the England team, set a target of 202 following the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith hurried the team across the finish line with a series of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other major first-innings' performers, both failed in the follow-up, while Joe Root added several more runs – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more assured, then being bemused and accordingly out by Will Jacks. Brook suffered an similar outcome soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the fixture having delivered 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have found a portion of the hitting he bowled to pretty aggressive. His opening six deliveries versus the Lions cost 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not entirely wayward was definitely not overly intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those overs, the English side's other pitchers had given away almost precisely the identical number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a little less leaky later on, allowing 27 from his final six. He claimed one dismissal, making a sharp, low-down catch, leaning to his right side, to finish Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for managing only three runs in the initial innings, was one of three players players with fifties in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's performances from opening batsman were steadier than those of their number three: he scored 66 in their first innings and scored 68 in their second innings, facing 61 balls over his half-century, with five boundaries and a couple maximums, both from Bashir's's deliveries. Jacob Bethell reached 68 before a mis-hit to Stokes at cover, who held a low grab at ankle height.

Cox showed like reliability, and built on his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He produced several outstandingly elegant shots en route, such as a drive down the ground and a pull shot from successive Carse deliveries to reach his 50 runs.

Having missed the first day of this game with a stomach upset and made just the least significant of contributions to the second, Carse pitched brilliantly when eventually provided the chance, with McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three wickets.

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