Ollie Pope Strengthens Status to England's No 3 Spot with Impressive 90 Versus Lions

It's difficult to know how relevant of the English team's practice match will end up being important when their Ashes series campaign begins a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – a short span in space or time but light years away in importance and mood – but if it accomplished solely enhancing Ollie Pope's confidence, that on its own has rendered the endeavor beneficial.

England's No 3 – this fact is undoubtedly absolutely clear – followed his first-innings hundred by notching an additional 90 in the second innings, and the most notable was not merely the number of scored runs but the style in which they were scored. Periodically the 27-year-old appeared imperious, hitting a dozen boundaries and a couple of maximums, timing the ball sweetly but with fierce intent.

This was just a practice match versus a Lions team that deployed fully 11 pitchers during a match played in front of a handful of spectators in a local ground, but it was still hugely impressive. For the record, England, chasing of 202 following the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets after Jamie Smith raced the team past the conclusion with a series of boundaries.

Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other significant first-innings successes, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root made additional points – 31 on this occasion – but was far from more dominant, prior to being puzzled and accordingly dismissed by Jacks. Harry Brook met an same fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the fixture having bowled 12 overs for either team – will have faced part of the hitting he bowled to quite challenging. His initial six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not entirely loose was surely not overly intimidating.

At the end the sixth of those deliveries, the English side's other pitchers had given away almost precisely the identical total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less leaky later on, conceding 27 from his last six. He claimed a single wicket, making a smart, low-down catch, falling to his right side, to finish Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for achieving only a small score in the opening knock, was one of three half-centurions in the Lions' top order. McKinney's scores from opening batsman were more consistent than those of their No 3: he notched 66 in their first innings and went two better in their second innings, taking 61 deliveries over his fifty, with five and a couple six-hit shots, both off Bashir's's deliveries. Jacob Bethell reached 68 prior to a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who took a stooping grab at ankle height.

Jordan Cox exhibited similar reliability, and built on his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He produced some remarkably beautiful strokes on the way, such as a drive down the ground and a pull from consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to attain his half century.

Following his absence from the first day of this match with a stomach issue and made merely the least significant of efforts to the follow-up, Brydon Carse delivered brilliantly when at last provided the opportunity, with McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three dismissals.

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