Ollie Pope Reinforces Position to England Cricket's No 3 Spot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It's difficult to gauge how much of the English team's warm-up fixture will prove relevant when their Ashes campaign starts a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but light years away in significance and environment – but if it managed only boosting Pope's self-belief, that on its own has rendered the exercise valuable.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is undoubtedly completely clear – built on his initial innings ton by adding a further 90 in the second, and the truly impressive was less about the quantity of scored runs but the style in which they were scored. Periodically the 27-year-old appeared commanding, striking a dozen boundaries and a two of sixes, hitting the ball sweetly but with fierce determination.

This was just a friendly against a Lions squad that employed fully 11 bowlers during a game played in front of a few dozen of onlookers in a open field, but it was nonetheless very noteworthy. Officially, England, needing of 202 once the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets after Jamie Smith hurried the team over the conclusion with a series of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other big first-innings successes, both fell short in the second knock, while Root added further points – 31 on this instance – but was far from more convincing, prior to being bemused and accordingly dismissed by Jacks. Brook suffered an similar outcome a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the fixture having delivered 12 overs for both teams – will have encountered some of the hitting he confronted rather aggressive. His opening six deliveries versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney feasting to bowling that if not exactly wayward was surely far from threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth of that period, the English side's remaining three pitchers had allowed nearly exactly the identical number of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler grew a little less giving later on, allowing 27 from his final six. He took one wicket, making a smart, diving catch, diving to his right side, to conclude Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 balls.

Bethell, redeeming managing just three in the first innings, was among three players players with fifties in the Lions team's top order. Ben McKinney's scores from opener were more consistent than those from their number three: he notched 66 in their first innings and went two better in their second innings, using 61 balls to reach his half-century, with five boundaries and two six-hit shots, each against Bashir's deliveries. Bethell made 68 then a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover position, who made a bending catch at shin level.

Jordan Cox showed like consistency, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. There were some exceptionally handsome hits during his innings, including a drive down the ground and a pull against consecutive Carse deliveries to reach his half century.

Following his absence from the initial day of this game with a stomach issue and made only the smallest of inputs to the follow-up, Carse pitched superbly when eventually provided the chance, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three scalps.

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