Ollie Pope Strengthens Status to England's Number Three Role with Bold 90 Versus Lions

It is difficult to know how much of England's practice match will be remotely relevant when their Ashes series contest starts a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – no distance in space or time but worlds away in significance and mood – but if it accomplished solely boosting Ollie Pope's confidence, that on its own has made the endeavor beneficial.

The English side's No 3 – this fact is undoubtedly completely clear – followed his first-innings hundred by scoring an additional 90 in the second innings, and what was impressive was not so much the number of runs but the style in which they were accumulated. Periodically the 27-year-old seemed commanding, striking a twelve fours and a two of maximums, hitting the ball sweetly but with devilish determination.

It was only a practice match versus a England Lions side that used exactly 11 bowlers across a contest staged in amid a few dozen of spectators in a open field, but it was still hugely noteworthy. To note, the England team, needing of 202 following the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by a margin of five wickets when Jamie Smith raced the team past the conclusion with a series of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings' achievers, both failed in the second innings, while Joe Root made further runs – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more assured, then being puzzled and duly out by Jacks. Harry Brook suffered an similar end a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the fixture having delivered 12 overs for both teams – will have found part of the hitting he confronted rather challenging. His initial six deliveries against the Lions cost 56, with McKinney taking advantage to bowling that if not entirely poor was certainly not very dangerous.

At the end the sixth of that period, the English side's other pitchers had given away roughly the same number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less giving as time passed, allowing 27 from his remaining six. He secured one wicket, making a smart, low-down catch, diving to his right side, to finish Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 balls.

Bethell, compensating for scoring only three runs in the initial innings, was among three players fifty-scorers in the Lions team's leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's returns from opener were steadier than the scores of their number three: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and went two better in their second innings, facing 61 balls for his 50 runs, with five fours and a couple sixes, the pair against Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell reached 68 then a mis-hit to Stokes at cover position, who took a bending catch at low down.

Cox showed comparable reliability, and built on his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at about a scoring rate of one. He produced a few outstandingly elegant strokes on the way, featuring a straight hit and a hook from successive Carse balls to attain his half century.

Having missed the first day of this fixture with a stomach upset and contributed only the smallest of inputs to the second day, Carse bowled excellently when finally provided the shot, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three scalps.

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