Ollie Pope Reinforces Status to England Cricket's Number Three Role with Bold 90 Against Lions

It is difficult to gauge how relevant of England's practice match will prove important when their Ashes battle kicks off 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in importance and atmosphere – but if it accomplished nothing more than enhancing Ollie Pope's self-belief, that alone has made the exercise worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – that point is surely absolutely established – followed his initial innings ton by adding a further 90 in the second, and the most impressive was less about the number of scored runs but the way in which they were made. Periodically the young batsman appeared imperious, smashing a twelve fours and a two of maximums, hitting the ball beautifully but with fierce intent.

It was only a friendly versus a England Lions side that used fully 11 bowlers across a match played in front of a few dozen of spectators in a local ground, but it was nonetheless very noteworthy. To note, England, set a target of 202 once the Lions ended their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets in hand after Smith hurried the team past the winning target with a flurry of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the other two big first-innings successes, both failed in the second innings, while Root added additional points – 31 on this instance – but was far from more dominant, then being confused and duly out by Jacks. Harry Brook suffered an identical end a little later.

Bashir – who ended the fixture having bowled 12 bowling spells for each side – will have faced part of the batting he bowled to pretty challenging. His first six overs versus the Lions cost 56, with McKinney feasting to pitching that if not exactly loose was surely far from intimidating.

At the end the sixth over of those deliveries, the English side's other pitchers had given away roughly the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler grew a little less leaky in time, conceding 27 from his final six. He secured one dismissal, making a smart, low snare, falling to his right, to end Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, off 80 balls.

Bethell, redeeming managing merely a small score in the initial innings, was a member of three players half-centurions in the Lions team's leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's returns from opening batsman were more reliable than those of their No 3: he made 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their second, taking 61 balls over his 50 runs, with five and two six-hit shots, each from Bashir's's bowling. Bethell got to 68 before a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who took a bending catch at low down.

Cox displayed like steadiness, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a scoring rate of one. He played some remarkably beautiful strokes on the way, such as a drive down the ground and a pull off consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to reach his half century.

Having missed the first day of this match with a stomach issue and made just the most minor of contributions to the second day, Carse pitched brilliantly when at last provided the chance, with McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three dismissals.

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