Pope Cements Position to England Cricket's Number Three Role with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's hard to know how significant of England's preparatory fixture will end up being relevant when their Ashes campaign kicks off 10km away at Perth Stadium on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but ages away in import and environment – but if it accomplished solely strengthening Pope's assurance, that on its own has rendered the effort beneficial.

The English side's No 3 – this fact is certainly totally established – followed his initial innings hundred by scoring an additional 90 in the second, and the most notable was not merely the quantity of runs but the style in which they were accumulated. At times the player seemed dominant, smashing a twelve fours and a two of maximums, timing the ball perfectly but with aggressive determination.

It was merely a practice match versus a England Lions squad that deployed fully 11 pitchers throughout a contest played in front of a few dozen of onlookers in a local ground, but it was still extremely impressive. For the record, the England team, chasing of 202 after the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets once Jamie Smith sped the team across the finish line with a series of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other big first-innings' achievers, both fell short in the second knock, while Root scored further runs – 31 on this occasion – but was not significantly more assured, prior to being bemused and duly dismissed by Jacks. Harry Brook met an similar fate soon afterwards.

Bashir – who ended the match having delivered 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have faced part of the batting he bowled to quite hostile. His first six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not entirely loose was definitely not very intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth over of that period, the English side's remaining three bowlers had conceded almost precisely the same total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a little less leaky as time passed, allowing 27 from his remaining six. He claimed a single wicket, holding a sharp, low-down grab, falling to his right, to end Bethell's innings for 70, off 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, redeeming managing just three runs in the opening knock, was among a trio of fifty-scorers in the Lions team's top order. McKinney's performances from opener were more consistent than those of their No 3: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and went two better in their second, taking 61 balls to reach his half-century, with five and a couple maximums, both from Bashir's deliveries. Bethell reached 68 before a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who held a bending grab at low down.

Jordan Cox exhibited similar steadiness, and built on his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at just over a run a ball. There were a few outstandingly beautiful hits en route, such as a drive down the ground and a hook against back-to-back Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the opening day of this match with a stomach issue and contributed only the smallest of efforts to the second day, Carse delivered excellently when eventually afforded the opportunity, with McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three dismissals.

This report will update