Ollie Pope Reinforces Position to England's Number Three Slot with Bold 90 Against Lions

It's tough to know how significant of the English team's practice match will be remotely meaningful when their Ashes campaign starts a short distance away at Perth Stadium on Friday – no distance in space or time but ages away in significance and environment – but if it managed solely enhancing Ollie Pope's self-belief, that alone has made the effort worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is certainly absolutely clear – followed his first-innings hundred by scoring a further 90 in the second innings, and the most remarkable was not merely the number of scored runs but the style in which they were scored. At times the young batsman seemed commanding, hitting a twelve boundaries and a pair of maximums, connecting with the ball sweetly but with fierce determination.

It was just a practice match versus a Lions squad that employed exactly 11 pitchers across a game held in front of a few dozen of spectators in a open field, but it was still very impressive. For the record, the England team, needing of 202 after the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets when Smith sped the team past the winning target with a series of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two big first-innings performers, both fell short in the second innings, while Root added additional points – 31 on this time – but was far from more assured, then being bemused and subsequently out by Jacks. Harry Brook suffered an same fate soon afterwards.

Bashir – who finished the game having delivered 12 overs for either team – will have encountered part of the batting he faced quite hostile. His first six overs versus the Lions cost 56, with McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not exactly loose was definitely not very dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth of that period, the English side's remaining three bowlers had conceded nearly exactly the identical amount of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler became a little less leaky as time passed, allowing 27 from his remaining six. He secured one wicket, taking a clever, low-down snare, diving to his right, to conclude Bethell's innings for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Bethell, compensating for achieving merely three runs in the first innings, was among three players players with fifties in the Lions' top order. Ben McKinney's returns from opener were more consistent than the scores of their No 3: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and scored 68 in their follow-up, facing 61 deliveries for his 50 runs, with five boundaries and two maximums, both off Bashir's deliveries. Bethell got to 68 then a mis-hit to Stokes at cover, who held a stooping catch at low down.

Cox exhibited similar reliability, and built on his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a run a ball. He played some outstandingly beautiful shots during his innings, including a straight drive and a pull shot off successive Carse balls to attain his fifty.

Having missed the first day of this fixture with a stomach upset and provided merely the most minor of efforts to the follow-up, Brydon Carse bowled brilliantly when finally given the shot, with Ben McKinney and Cox among his three wickets.

This report will update