Pope Reinforces Claim to England Cricket's No 3 Slot with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's tough to know how relevant of England's practice game will prove relevant when their Ashes campaign kicks off not far at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a short span in geography or duration but worlds away in importance and atmosphere – but if it accomplished solely strengthening Ollie Pope's assurance, that alone has made the exercise valuable.

England's number three batsman – this fact is surely absolutely established – followed his initial innings century by scoring another 90 in the second innings, and what was remarkable was not so much the total of scored runs but the manner in which they were accumulated. At times the player looked imperious, smashing a twelve boundaries and a two of maximums, hitting the ball sweetly but with fierce determination.

It was only a practice match versus a Lions squad that used exactly 11 pitchers during a game staged in before a handful of onlookers in a public park, but it was nonetheless extremely impressive. To note, England, needing of 202 following the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by a margin of five wickets after Jamie Smith hurried the team across the conclusion with a flurry of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings achievers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Joe Root scored several more points – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more dominant, then being puzzled and duly out by Will Jacks. Brook suffered an identical fate shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the fixture having delivered 12 bowling spells for each side – will have encountered part of the batting he confronted quite hostile. His first six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not completely poor was definitely far from threatening.

After the sixth of that period, England's remaining three bowlers had conceded almost precisely the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a little less generous as time passed, giving up 27 from his final six. He claimed a single wicket, taking a clever, low grab, falling to his right, to conclude Jacob Bethell's knock for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for achieving only three in the first innings, was one of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's performances from opener were more reliable than the scores of their number three: he scored 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their second innings, using 61 deliveries to reach his half-century, with five boundaries and a couple maximums, each from Bashir's bowling. Jacob Bethell reached 68 prior to a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who took a bending catch at low down.

Jordan Cox displayed similar reliability, and built on his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He produced some exceptionally beautiful strokes en route, including a straight drive and a pull shot off back-to-back Brydon Carse balls to achieve his half century.

Having missed the initial day of this game with a stomach upset and contributed merely the smallest of contributions to the second day, Brydon Carse bowled excellently when finally provided the chance, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three wickets.

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