Pope Strengthens Claim to England Cricket's No 3 Role with Bold 90 Against Lions

It is hard to know how significant of England's practice game will be remotely relevant when their Ashes series battle kicks off a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in space or time but light years away in importance and environment – but if it managed nothing more than enhancing Ollie Pope's confidence, that by itself has rendered the effort valuable.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is surely totally clear – followed his first-innings century by scoring a further 90 in the second innings, and what was remarkable was not so much the number of runs but the way in which they were accumulated. On occasion the player looked imperious, smashing a dozen boundaries and a pair of maximums, connecting with the ball beautifully but with devilish purpose.

This was merely a friendly versus a Lions side that deployed fully 11 bowlers during a match held in amid a small group of people in a open field, but it was nevertheless hugely impressive. Officially, England, chasing of 202 after the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets after Jamie Smith raced the team across the finish line with a series of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the two other significant first-innings successes, both failed in the second innings, while Joe Root scored additional runs – 31 on this occasion – but was far from more dominant, prior to being puzzled and accordingly dismissed by Jacks. Brook suffered an same fate shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the game having delivered 12 overs for each side – will have encountered part of the hitting he faced quite hostile. His opening six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not exactly poor was surely not very threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those overs, England's remaining three pitchers had given away almost precisely the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler grew a somewhat less giving as time passed, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He secured one wicket, making a sharp, diving catch, falling to his right, to finish Bethell's batting stint for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Bethell, redeeming managing just a small score in the initial innings, was a member of three players with fifties in the Lions' top order. Ben McKinney's performances from opener were more consistent than those from their number three: he made 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their follow-up, facing 61 balls for his 50 runs, with five boundaries and two six-hit shots, each from Bashir's bowling. Bethell got to 68 before a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover, who made a bending catch at shin level.

Jordan Cox exhibited similar steadiness, and followed his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at just over a run a ball. There were a few exceptionally handsome shots en route, featuring a straight drive and a pull from consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to reach his 50 runs.

Having missed the opening day of this fixture with a stomach issue and provided just the smallest of efforts to the second, Brydon Carse pitched brilliantly when at last provided the opportunity, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three scalps.

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