Pope Strengthens Claim to England's No 3 Spot with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It's tough to know how relevant of the English team's preparatory game will prove important when their Ashes battle starts a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in importance and mood – but if it achieved solely strengthening Ollie Pope's confidence, that on its own has rendered the effort worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – this fact is certainly totally established – built on his initial innings ton by adding a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was remarkable was not so much the total of scored runs but the manner in which they were scored. Periodically the young batsman appeared dominant, striking a dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes, connecting with the ball perfectly but with fierce determination.

This was only a friendly versus a England Lions side that employed fully 11 bowlers during a game held in before a handful of people in a open field, but it was still hugely noteworthy. Officially, England, set a target of 202 after the Lions ended their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by a margin of five wickets after Smith raced the team across the finish line with a series of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Duckett, the two other major first-innings performers, both fell short in the second innings, while Joe Root added several more points – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more dominant, prior to being puzzled and subsequently bowled by Will Jacks. Brook experienced an same fate soon afterwards.

Bashir – who ended the game having delivered 12 overs for each side – will have found a portion of the batting he faced rather aggressive. His first six deliveries against the Lions cost 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to pitching that if not completely wayward was surely not overly threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth over of those deliveries, the English side's other bowlers had conceded nearly exactly the same number of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a somewhat less leaky in time, allowing 27 from his remaining six. He claimed one wicket, taking a smart, diving grab, leaning to his right side, to conclude Jacob Bethell's knock for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for scoring just three in the first innings, was one of a trio of players with fifties in the Lions' top order. Ben McKinney's performances from opener were more consistent than those of their number three: he notched 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their follow-up, facing 61 balls for his 50 runs, with five and two maximums, each off Bashir's deliveries. Bethell reached 68 before a mishit to Stokes at cover, who took a stooping catch at low down.

Cox showed similar reliability, and followed his first-innings 53 with another 57, at about a scoring rate of one. He produced a few outstandingly beautiful strokes en route, such as a drive down the ground and a pull against consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to reach his fifty.

Having missed the opening day of this game with a illness and provided only the smallest of inputs to the second day, Brydon Carse delivered superbly when eventually given the opportunity, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three dismissals.

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