Pope Strengthens Status to England Cricket's Number Three Spot with Bold 90 Against Lions

It is tough to know how relevant of England's practice fixture will end up being meaningful when their Ashes contest kicks off a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a short span in space or time but light years away in importance and environment – but if it achieved nothing more than boosting Ollie Pope's self-belief, that by itself has made the effort beneficial.

England's No 3 – that much is certainly completely clear – built on his initial innings hundred by notching a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was notable was less about the quantity of scored runs but the way in which they were scored. On occasion the young batsman appeared imperious, smashing a dozen fours and a couple of sixes, timing the ball sweetly but with devilish determination.

It was only a friendly against a England Lions squad that used exactly 11 bowlers across a game held in front of a handful of onlookers in a open field, but it was still hugely noteworthy. To note, the England team, needing of 202 once the Lions declared their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets once Smith sped the team over the winning target with a flurry of boundaries.

Crawley and Duckett, the two other major first-innings' performers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Root scored several more points – 31 on this occasion – but was not significantly more convincing, then being puzzled and accordingly dismissed by Will Jacks. Harry Brook met an similar end shortly after.

Bashir – who concluded the fixture having bowled 12 overs for each side – will have encountered some of the strokes he bowled to pretty aggressive. His initial six deliveries versus the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to pitching that if not completely wayward was certainly far from dangerous.

At the end the sixth of those deliveries, the English side's three other bowlers had given away nearly exactly the equivalent total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a little less giving in time, conceding 27 from his last six. He claimed a single wicket, taking a sharp, low catch, diving to his right side, to end Bethell's knock for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for scoring only a small score in the opening knock, was a member of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions' leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's returns from opener were more reliable than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their first innings and improved by two in their second, facing 61 balls for his fifty, with five boundaries and a couple sixes, the pair off Bashir's's pitching. Jacob Bethell made 68 prior to a mis-hit to Stokes at cover position, who made a low grab at shin level.

Cox showed similar consistency, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at about a run a ball. There were a few outstandingly elegant hits during his innings, including a straight drive and a hook against back-to-back Carse balls to reach his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the initial day of this match with a stomach upset and contributed merely the most minor of contributions to the follow-up, Brydon Carse delivered superbly when at last provided the opportunity, with McKinney and Cox among his three wickets.

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