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

It is difficult to gauge how relevant of England's practice game will end up being meaningful when their Ashes series contest starts not far at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but ages away in significance and mood – but if it accomplished solely strengthening Pope's assurance, that by itself has made the exercise valuable.

England's number three batsman – that point is undoubtedly absolutely established – followed his first-innings ton by scoring a further 90 in the second, and the most notable was less about the quantity of runs but the style in which they were accumulated. At times the player looked commanding, hitting a dozen fours and a pair of sixes, connecting with the ball perfectly but with fierce intent.

It was merely a practice match against a Lions side that employed exactly 11 pitchers during a contest held in amid a small group of people in a public park, but it was still hugely impressive. Officially, the England team, chasing of 202 after the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith sped the team past the winning target with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining significant first-innings achievers, both fell short in the follow-up, while Root scored several more points – 31 on this occasion – but was far from more convincing, before being bemused and accordingly bowled by Jacks. Harry Brook met an identical end a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the match having bowled 12 overs for each side – will have found some of the hitting he faced pretty challenging. His opening six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to pitching that if not exactly poor was surely far from dangerous.

At the end the sixth of that period, the English side's remaining three pitchers had given away almost precisely the equivalent amount of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a slightly less giving in time, allowing 27 from his final six. He took one dismissal, making a clever, low-down grab, leaning to his right, to conclude Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, redeeming scoring just a small score in the first innings, was among three fifty-scorers in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's performances from opening batsman were more reliable than those of their number three: he made 66 in their first batting effort and improved by two in their second innings, using 61 balls over his half-century, with five boundaries and two six-hit shots, the pair off Bashir's deliveries. Bethell reached 68 before a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who took a bending catch at shin level.

Cox exhibited like steadiness, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at just over a scoring rate of one. There were some remarkably elegant hits en route, including a straight hit and a pull against successive Brydon Carse balls to achieve his half century.

Following his absence from the opening day of this fixture with a stomach issue and provided just the smallest of efforts to the follow-up, Carse bowled brilliantly when at last provided the chance, with McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

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