Ollie Pope Reinforces Position to England's No 3 Slot with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's difficult to know how much of the English team's practice fixture will prove relevant when their Ashes contest kicks off not far at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in space or time but ages away in significance and environment – but if it accomplished solely boosting Pope's self-belief, that by itself has rendered the effort worthwhile.

England's No 3 – that point is undoubtedly absolutely certain – built on his first-innings ton by scoring an additional 90 in the follow-up innings, and the most notable was less about the quantity of runs but the style in which they were made. Periodically the young batsman looked imperious, hitting a twelve fours and a pair of sixes, connecting with the ball sweetly but with devilish determination.

It was only a practice match versus a Lions side that employed fully 11 bowlers across a match staged in amid a handful of onlookers in a local ground, but it was still very noteworthy. Officially, the England team, chasing of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand after Jamie Smith hurried the team over the winning target with a series of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other major first-innings' achievers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Root added further runs – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more assured, before being confused and duly bowled by Will Jacks. Brook experienced an similar fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the game having delivered 12 overs for either team – will have found some of the hitting he confronted quite aggressive. His first six deliveries against the Lions cost 56, with McKinney taking advantage to pitching that if not completely loose was certainly far from threatening.

At the end the sixth of that period, England's three other bowlers had allowed nearly exactly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a slightly less giving later on, giving up 27 from his last six. He took one wicket, holding a clever, diving grab, falling to his right, to conclude Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 balls.

Bethell, redeeming achieving just three in the first innings, was among a trio of fifty-scorers in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's scores from opener were more consistent than the scores of their number three: he made 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their second innings, facing 61 deliveries to reach his half-century, with five fours and two sixes, each against Bashir's bowling. Bethell reached 68 prior to a mishit to Stokes at cover position, who held a bending catch at low down.

Cox displayed similar consistency, and followed his first-innings 53 with another 57, at just over a run per delivery. He produced a few remarkably beautiful shots on the way, such as a drive down the ground and a hook from successive Carse deliveries to attain his half century.

Having missed the initial day of this match with a illness and provided merely the most minor of inputs to the second day, Carse delivered brilliantly when eventually given the opportunity, with McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

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