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

It's difficult to know how much of the English team's warm-up match will prove relevant when their Ashes contest kicks off not far at Perth Stadium on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in significance and mood – but if it achieved solely enhancing Ollie Pope's self-belief, that on its own has made the exercise beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – that point is surely absolutely certain – built on his initial innings ton by notching a further 90 in the second innings, and the most notable was less about the number of scored runs but the manner in which they were accumulated. On occasion the young batsman seemed commanding, hitting a dozen boundaries and a two of sixes, hitting the ball beautifully but with fierce determination.

This was just a friendly against a England Lions team that employed exactly 11 bowlers throughout a game held in before a small group of people in a local ground, but it was nevertheless extremely impressive. Officially, the England team, needing of 202 following the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets when Jamie Smith raced the team across the finish line with a series of boundaries.

Crawley and Duckett, the remaining major first-innings' successes, both failed in the follow-up, while Root scored further points – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more dominant, then being confused and subsequently out by Jacks. Harry Brook met an identical outcome soon afterwards.

Bashir – who ended the game having bowled 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have encountered some of the strokes he faced pretty aggressive. His first six overs versus the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not entirely wayward was definitely not overly intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth over of that period, England's remaining three pitchers had conceded roughly the identical total of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler became a little less generous as time passed, conceding 27 from his last six. He claimed a single wicket, holding a clever, diving catch, diving to his right, to end Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, from 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, making up for managing just three runs in the initial innings, was a member of three players players with fifties in the Lions team's top order. McKinney's returns from opening batsman were more reliable than those of their No 3: he notched 66 in their first innings and improved by two in their second innings, facing 61 balls over his fifty, with five boundaries and two sixes, each against Bashir's bowling. Bethell reached 68 before a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover, who took a low grab at low down.

Jordan Cox displayed comparable consistency, and followed his first-innings 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a scoring rate of one. There were several exceptionally elegant strokes en route, featuring a drive down the ground and a pull shot off back-to-back Brydon Carse deliveries to achieve his half century.

Following his absence from the opening day of this fixture with a stomach issue and provided just the smallest of contributions to the second, Brydon Carse bowled brilliantly when finally provided the shot, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three dismissals.

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