Pope Cements Position to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Bold 90 Against Lions

It is hard to gauge how much of the English team's warm-up fixture will prove meaningful when their Ashes contest begins 10km away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – no distance in space or time but worlds away in significance and atmosphere – but if it managed only strengthening Ollie Pope's self-belief, that on its own has made the exercise beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is certainly totally clear – built on his initial innings ton by notching an additional 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was notable was less about the total of scored runs but the style in which they were accumulated. On occasion the young batsman appeared commanding, smashing a twelve boundaries and a two of maximums, hitting the ball beautifully but with aggressive determination.

It was only a friendly against a England Lions squad that used fully 11 pitchers during a match staged in before a few dozen of people in a local ground, but it was nevertheless very noteworthy. Officially, England, chasing of 202 following the Lions ended their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith raced the team across the winning target with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two major first-innings' successes, both failed in the second knock, while Root made several more runs – 31 on this time – but was not enormously more assured, prior to being confused and subsequently dismissed by Will Jacks. Brook experienced an identical end shortly after.

Bashir – who finished the fixture having delivered 12 overs for both teams – will have found a portion of the strokes he faced rather challenging. His initial six overs against the Lions cost 56, with McKinney taking advantage to bowling that if not exactly poor was certainly not very threatening.

At the end the sixth of that period, England's other pitchers had given away roughly the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less generous later on, conceding 27 from his final six. He claimed one dismissal, taking a clever, low-down snare, falling to his right, to finish Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for managing only a small score in the opening knock, was a member of three half-centurions in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's scores from opener were more reliable than the scores of their number three: he notched 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their follow-up, facing 61 balls over his half-century, with five fours and two maximums, both off Bashir's bowling. Bethell made 68 then a mis-hit to Stokes at cover position, who took a low catch at low down.

Jordan Cox displayed similar consistency, and followed his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at just over a run per delivery. He played several exceptionally elegant hits on the way, including a straight drive and a pull shot from back-to-back Carse balls to achieve his fifty.

Following his absence from the opening day of this fixture with a stomach upset and provided only the most minor of contributions to the second, Brydon Carse pitched excellently when eventually afforded the opportunity, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three scalps.

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