Ollie Pope Reinforces Claim to England's No 3 Slot with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's hard to determine how much of England's practice match will prove relevant when their Ashes series battle begins 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – a short span in space or time but worlds away in import and environment – but if it managed nothing more than strengthening Pope's self-belief, that on its own has rendered the effort beneficial.

England's No 3 – that much is certainly totally clear – followed his initial innings ton by notching a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was notable was not merely the total of runs but the way in which they were scored. On occasion the 27-year-old looked commanding, smashing a twelve boundaries and a couple of sixes, hitting the ball perfectly but with aggressive purpose.

This was just a exhibition game versus a Lions squad that deployed fully 11 bowlers throughout a game held in amid a few dozen of onlookers in a open field, but it was nonetheless very impressive. For the record, England, needing of 202 after the Lions declared their follow-on innings on 251 for six, triumphed by a margin of five wickets once Jamie Smith hurried the team past the winning target with a stream of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining big first-innings performers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Joe Root made several more runs – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more convincing, before being confused and subsequently out by Jacks. Harry Brook suffered an identical outcome a little later.

Bashir – who concluded the fixture having bowled 12 bowling spells for either team – will have encountered part of the hitting he faced pretty challenging. His first six overs against the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not exactly wayward was certainly not overly threatening.

After the sixth of that period, England's other pitchers had allowed almost precisely the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler became a little less giving later on, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He secured one wicket, making a smart, diving catch, leaning to his right side, to finish Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 balls.

Bethell, making up for managing only three runs in the initial innings, was one of three players half-centurions in the Lions' top four. McKinney's scores from opener were steadier than those from their number three: he made 66 in their first innings and scored 68 in their follow-up, using 61 balls for his 50 runs, with five fours and two six-hit shots, both off Bashir's's pitching. Jacob Bethell got to 68 then a mis-hit to Stokes at cover, who took a low catch at ankle height.

Cox displayed similar steadiness, and followed his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He played some outstandingly beautiful shots en route, featuring a straight drive and a pull from consecutive Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

After missing the opening day of this fixture with a stomach issue and made merely the most minor of efforts to the second day, Carse delivered excellently when finally provided the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three scalps.

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