Ollie Pope Cements Position to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It is hard to know how significant of the English team's preparatory match will end up being important when their Ashes campaign begins a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – no distance in space or time but light years away in significance and atmosphere – but if it managed only boosting Pope's confidence, that on its own has rendered the effort worthwhile.

England's No 3 – that much is surely absolutely established – built on his initial innings hundred by adding another 90 in the second innings, and what was impressive was not merely the total of runs but the way in which they were scored. On occasion the player appeared imperious, smashing a dozen boundaries and a two of maximums, connecting with the ball perfectly but with aggressive purpose.

It was only a exhibition game against a Lions side that employed exactly 11 pitchers across a game played in front of a handful of spectators in a public park, but it was nonetheless hugely impressive. For the record, England, needing of 202 following the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by a margin of five wickets once Jamie Smith hurried the team past the winning target with a stream of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings' achievers, both fell short in the second knock, while Joe Root made further points – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more assured, before being bemused and duly bowled by Will Jacks. Harry Brook met an identical fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the fixture having bowled 12 overs for either team – will have encountered part of the batting he faced quite aggressive. His first six overs against the Lions went for 56, with McKinney feasting to bowling that if not completely wayward was definitely not overly intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth over of those overs, the English side's three other bowlers had given away nearly exactly the equivalent number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a somewhat less generous as time passed, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He took a single wicket, holding a smart, diving catch, diving to his right side, to end Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Bethell, redeeming scoring just a small score in the first innings, was among a trio of players with fifties in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's performances from opening batsman were steadier than those of their No 3: he notched 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their follow-up, using 61 deliveries over his 50 runs, with five and two maximums, each from Bashir's's pitching. Bethell got to 68 before a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover, who made a stooping grab at shin level.

Jordan Cox showed like reliability, and built on his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at about a run a ball. There were some remarkably elegant strokes on the way, such as a drive down the ground and a hook against consecutive Brydon Carse balls to attain his half century.

Following his absence from the initial day of this match with a stomach issue and provided merely the smallest of inputs to the second, Brydon Carse pitched excellently when at last given the shot, with McKinney and Cox part of his three wickets.

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