Ollie Pope Reinforces Claim to England's Number Three Spot with Impressive 90 Versus Lions

It is difficult to determine how significant of England's practice fixture will end up being important when their Ashes battle starts 10km away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but ages away in importance and mood – but if it managed nothing more than boosting Pope's confidence, that on its own has rendered the exercise valuable.

England's No 3 – that point is surely completely clear – built on his first-innings ton by scoring a further 90 in the second, and the truly remarkable was not so much the total of scored runs but the manner in which they were scored. At times the 27-year-old appeared dominant, striking a dozen boundaries and a couple of maximums, hitting the ball perfectly but with fierce purpose.

This was merely a practice match versus a England Lions side that used exactly 11 bowlers throughout a contest staged in before a handful of spectators in a open field, but it was nevertheless extremely impressive. To note, the England team, set a target of 202 following the Lions declared their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets once Smith raced the team across the conclusion with a stream of boundaries.

Crawley and Duckett, the two other major first-innings' performers, both failed in the second innings, while Joe Root made several more points – 31 on this occasion – but was not significantly more assured, prior to being confused and subsequently out by Will Jacks. Brook met an identical end shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the game having delivered 12 bowling spells for either team – will have encountered a portion of the hitting he faced pretty hostile. His opening six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney tucking in to bowling that if not exactly wayward was surely far from intimidating.

After the sixth of those overs, England's remaining three pitchers had conceded roughly the equivalent number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a slightly less giving in time, allowing 27 from his last six. He secured a single wicket, holding a smart, low-down catch, leaning to his right side, to finish Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for scoring just a small score in the initial innings, was a member of three players half-centurions in the Lions' top order. McKinney's performances from opening batsman were more consistent than the scores of their No 3: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and scored 68 in their follow-up, taking 61 balls for his fifty, with five fours and a couple sixes, the pair from Bashir's pitching. Bethell reached 68 then a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who held a stooping catch at low down.

Cox exhibited comparable consistency, and followed his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run a ball. He played several exceptionally beautiful shots during his innings, including a straight hit and a hook against successive Carse deliveries to reach his 50 runs.

Having missed the first day of this match with a stomach issue and provided only the least significant of inputs to the second day, Carse bowled excellently when at last afforded the chance, with McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three scalps.

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