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

It's difficult to gauge how much of the English team's practice match will be remotely important when their Ashes contest kicks off not far at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a short span in geography or duration but worlds away in significance and atmosphere – but if it managed only enhancing Ollie Pope's assurance, that alone has rendered the effort worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is certainly completely established – built on his first-innings hundred by notching a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was notable was not merely the quantity of scored runs but the style in which they were made. At times the player appeared commanding, smashing a twelve fours and a couple of maximums, timing the ball perfectly but with devilish purpose.

It was just a exhibition game versus a England Lions side that used exactly 11 bowlers throughout a match held in amid a handful of onlookers in a local ground, but it was nevertheless very noteworthy. Officially, the England team, needing of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets when Smith raced the team past the finish line with a series of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings' successes, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root added several more points – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more dominant, before being bemused and duly dismissed by Will Jacks. Brook experienced an same outcome shortly after.

Bashir – who concluded the game having delivered 12 overs for either team – will have found part of the strokes he faced quite hostile. His opening six overs versus the Lions went for 56, with McKinney taking advantage to bowling that if not exactly poor was definitely far from intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those overs, England's other bowlers had given away roughly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a little less leaky in time, conceding 27 from his remaining six. He claimed one dismissal, making a clever, low-down catch, diving to his right side, to conclude Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, facing 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, making up for scoring merely three runs in the first innings, was a member of three players half-centurions in the Lions' top order. McKinney's returns from opener were steadier than those of their number three: he made 66 in their first innings and improved by two in their second, using 61 balls over his half-century, with five boundaries and two maximums, each from Bashir's's bowling. Bethell reached 68 prior to a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover position, who made a low grab at low down.

Cox displayed comparable consistency, and built on his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at just over a scoring rate of one. He played a few outstandingly handsome shots during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a hook off consecutive Brydon Carse balls to attain his 50 runs.

Having missed the opening day of this match with a stomach issue and contributed just the smallest of inputs to the second day, Carse delivered excellently when at last given the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three wickets.

This report could change