Ollie Pope Reinforces Position to England's Number Three Spot with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It's hard to determine how relevant of England's warm-up game will end up being meaningful when their Ashes campaign starts 10km away at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a short span in space or time but ages away in import and environment – but if it managed nothing more than boosting Pope's assurance, that on its own has rendered the effort worthwhile.

England's number three batsman – that much is certainly absolutely clear – followed his first-innings century by notching another 90 in the follow-up innings, and the most notable was not merely the total of runs but the style in which they were scored. Periodically the 27-year-old looked imperious, hitting a twelve fours and a couple of sixes, hitting the ball perfectly but with fierce determination.

This was merely a friendly versus a Lions side that used a total of 11 pitchers throughout a game played in front of a small group of onlookers in a open field, but it was still extremely impressive. Officially, England, set a target of 202 after the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by a margin of five wickets after Smith sped the team past the conclusion with a flurry of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the other two significant first-innings successes, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Joe Root added additional points – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more dominant, then being bemused and duly bowled by Will Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an identical outcome shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the fixture having delivered 12 overs for either team – will have faced a portion of the batting he faced rather aggressive. His first six overs versus the Lions cost 56, with McKinney taking advantage to pitching that if not completely wayward was certainly far from dangerous.

At the end the sixth spell of those overs, the English side's other pitchers had given away roughly the identical total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a little less leaky in time, giving up 27 from his final six. He took a single wicket, making a clever, low-down catch, diving to his right side, to finish Bethell's knock for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for managing just three in the initial innings, was among three players with fifties in the Lions team's leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's performances from opening batsman were more reliable than those of their No 3: he made 66 in their initial knock and scored 68 in their second innings, facing 61 deliveries for his fifty, with five fours and a couple maximums, both against Bashir's's bowling. Bethell made 68 before a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who held a low catch at low down.

Cox displayed similar reliability, and followed his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a scoring rate of one. He produced a few exceptionally elegant shots on the way, featuring a drive down the ground and a pull shot from back-to-back Brydon Carse balls to attain his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the first day of this match with a illness and contributed only the most minor of inputs to the second, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when eventually provided the shot, with Ben McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

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