Pope Cements Claim to England Cricket's Number Three Role with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It's difficult to gauge how relevant of England's preparatory match will prove meaningful when their Ashes series battle starts not far at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in significance and mood – but if it accomplished solely boosting Ollie Pope's self-belief, that alone has made the exercise beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is certainly absolutely certain – built on his initial innings century by adding an additional 90 in the second innings, and the truly impressive was less about the quantity of scored runs but the style in which they were made. At times the 27-year-old looked commanding, hitting a dozen fours and a pair of sixes, hitting the ball beautifully but with fierce purpose.

It was only a practice match against a England Lions squad that deployed a total of 11 pitchers throughout a game held in front of a small group of people in a local ground, but it was still hugely noteworthy. To note, England, chasing of 202 following the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, won by a margin of five wickets after Jamie Smith sped the team past the finish line with a flurry of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Duckett, the remaining significant first-innings successes, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Root added additional runs – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more assured, prior to being bemused and duly bowled by Will Jacks. Brook met an similar fate shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the match having bowled 12 overs for both teams – will have faced part of the batting he confronted pretty hostile. His initial six deliveries versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney taking advantage to pitching that if not exactly poor was definitely far from dangerous.

After the sixth spell of that period, the English side's other bowlers had allowed nearly exactly the equivalent total of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a little less leaky as time passed, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He took one dismissal, holding a clever, low-down catch, falling to his right side, to conclude Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 balls.

Bethell, redeeming achieving only a small score in the opening knock, was among a trio of players with fifties in the Lions' top four. McKinney's scores from opener were more consistent than those of their No 3: he made 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their follow-up, using 61 deliveries over his fifty, with five fours and two sixes, each off Bashir's bowling. Jacob Bethell reached 68 prior to a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who made a bending grab at shin level.

Cox exhibited comparable consistency, and followed his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at just over a scoring rate of one. He produced several exceptionally handsome hits en route, including a straight drive and a pull off consecutive Brydon Carse balls to achieve his half century.

Having missed the opening day of this fixture with a illness and made only the least significant of contributions to the follow-up, Carse bowled excellently when at last afforded the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three wickets.

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