Ollie Pope Cements Position to England Cricket's Number Three Role with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It is hard to determine how significant of the English team's warm-up fixture will prove meaningful when their Ashes contest starts not far at Perth Stadium on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but light years away in significance and environment – but if it accomplished only enhancing Ollie Pope's confidence, that by itself has made the effort beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – this fact is surely totally certain – built on his initial innings hundred by scoring a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was notable was not so much the total of scored runs but the way in which they were scored. Periodically the young batsman looked commanding, hitting a dozen fours and a two of sixes, connecting with the ball perfectly but with fierce intent.

This was merely a practice match against a Lions side that used exactly 11 bowlers throughout a contest held in before a small group of onlookers in a open field, but it was nevertheless hugely noteworthy. For the record, England, set a target of 202 following the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets when Jamie Smith hurried the team across the winning target with a stream of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings' achievers, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root scored several more points – 31 on this time – but was far from more convincing, prior to being confused and duly dismissed by Will Jacks. Harry Brook met an same fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the fixture having delivered 12 overs for each side – will have faced part of the hitting he bowled to quite aggressive. His opening six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney feasting to pitching that if not completely poor was definitely not very intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth over of that period, the English side's remaining three bowlers had allowed roughly the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a slightly less leaky as time passed, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He took one dismissal, taking a sharp, low catch, falling to his right side, to conclude Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for managing only three runs in the opening knock, was one of three players half-centurions in the Lions' leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's scores from opener were more reliable than the scores of their number three: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and scored 68 in their second, facing 61 balls over his half-century, with five fours and a couple maximums, both against Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell reached 68 then a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who took a bending grab at shin level.

Cox displayed like reliability, and followed his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at just over a scoring rate of one. He played some outstandingly elegant strokes on the way, featuring a drive down the ground and a pull shot off consecutive Carse balls to reach his fifty.

Following his absence from the initial day of this match with a stomach upset and contributed just the smallest of contributions to the second day, Carse delivered excellently when eventually given the opportunity, with McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

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