Ollie Pope Strengthens Status to England Cricket's Number Three Spot with Bold 90 Against Lions

It's difficult to determine how relevant of England's practice game will be remotely important when their Ashes series battle starts not far at Perth Stadium on Friday – a short span in geography or duration but light years away in importance and mood – but if it accomplished solely enhancing Ollie Pope's confidence, that alone has made the exercise beneficial.

England's No 3 – that much is surely totally certain – followed his first-innings ton by adding another 90 in the follow-up innings, and the truly notable was not merely the quantity of runs but the style in which they were accumulated. On occasion the young batsman seemed dominant, smashing a dozen fours and a couple of maximums, connecting with the ball sweetly but with aggressive intent.

This was only a practice match against a England Lions side that employed exactly 11 pitchers across a match staged in before a few dozen of onlookers in a public park, but it was nonetheless hugely impressive. For the record, the England team, needing of 202 following the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets once Jamie Smith sped the team over the finish line with a series of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining big first-innings' achievers, both fell short in the second knock, while Root scored further points – 31 on this time – but was far from more dominant, before being bemused and accordingly dismissed by Jacks. Brook met an similar end shortly after.

Bashir – who concluded the game having bowled 12 bowling spells for each side – will have faced some of the hitting he faced rather hostile. His first six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney feasting to pitching that if not completely wayward was certainly not very dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth over of that period, the English side's other pitchers had allowed almost precisely the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a little less generous in time, allowing 27 from his final six. He claimed one dismissal, making a clever, low-down snare, diving to his right side, to finish Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for achieving just three runs in the first innings, was among three players fifty-scorers in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's returns from opener were more reliable than those from their No 3: he notched 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their second innings, taking 61 balls over his 50 runs, with five fours and two sixes, the pair off Bashir's deliveries. Jacob Bethell made 68 prior to a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover position, who took a stooping catch at shin level.

Jordan Cox showed similar reliability, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He played a few remarkably handsome strokes during his innings, featuring a straight drive and a pull shot off consecutive Carse balls to achieve his half century.

After missing the initial day of this game with a stomach issue and made just the smallest of contributions to the second, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when eventually afforded the chance, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three wickets.

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