Pope Reinforces Status to England's No 3 Role with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It is tough to gauge how significant of the English team's practice match will be remotely meaningful when their Ashes series battle begins not far at Perth Stadium on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in import and mood – but if it achieved only boosting Ollie Pope's confidence, that alone has made the effort worthwhile.

England's No 3 – that much is certainly absolutely clear – followed his first-innings century by notching an additional 90 in the second, and what was remarkable was less about the quantity of runs but the style in which they were scored. At times the young batsman seemed dominant, hitting a twelve fours and a couple of sixes, timing the ball beautifully but with aggressive determination.

This was only a friendly versus a England Lions squad that employed fully 11 pitchers during a game played in front of a handful of spectators in a local ground, but it was nevertheless very impressive. For the record, England, chasing of 202 after the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith sped the team over the winning target with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other significant first-innings successes, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root made additional points – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more convincing, prior to being confused and accordingly dismissed by Will Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an same outcome shortly after.

Bashir – who ended the match having delivered 12 bowling spells for either team – will have found some of the batting he faced quite aggressive. His initial six deliveries against the Lions cost 56, with McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not entirely loose was certainly not very dangerous.

At the end the sixth spell of that period, the English side's three other pitchers had given away almost precisely the equivalent number of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less generous later on, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He secured one dismissal, taking a sharp, low-down grab, falling to his right side, to finish Jacob Bethell's knock for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Bethell, compensating for achieving only three runs in the opening knock, was a member of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's performances from opening batsman were steadier than those from their No 3: he made 66 in their first batting effort and improved by two in their second, facing 61 balls to reach his fifty, with five boundaries and a couple maximums, both against Bashir's deliveries. Bethell got to 68 prior to a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who took a stooping grab at shin level.

Jordan Cox exhibited like steadiness, and followed his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at about a scoring rate of one. He played several exceptionally handsome strokes during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a hook from consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the initial day of this match with a illness and provided only the most minor of contributions to the follow-up, Carse delivered brilliantly when at last given the chance, with McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three wickets.

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