Ollie Pope Strengthens Position to England Cricket's No 3 Role with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's hard to gauge how relevant of England's preparatory fixture will end up being relevant when their Ashes contest starts a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – a short span in space or time but light years away in importance and environment – but if it achieved solely strengthening Pope's confidence, that by itself has made the endeavor valuable.

England's No 3 – that point is undoubtedly totally established – built on his initial innings century by scoring another 90 in the second innings, and the most notable was less about the total of runs but the manner in which they were accumulated. Periodically the 27-year-old appeared dominant, striking a dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes, connecting with the ball perfectly but with devilish determination.

This was merely a practice match versus a Lions squad that used a total of 11 pitchers during a game played in amid a handful of people in a open field, but it was nonetheless hugely noteworthy. For the record, England, chasing of 202 once the Lions declared their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets after Jamie Smith hurried the team over the winning target with a stream of fours and sixes.

Crawley and Duckett, the other two significant first-innings' successes, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Root scored further points – 31 on this occasion – but was not significantly more convincing, then being bemused and subsequently dismissed by Jacks. Brook met an identical outcome shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the match having bowled 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have encountered part of the batting he faced rather challenging. His opening six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney tucking in to bowling that if not exactly poor was certainly not overly threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those overs, England's remaining three bowlers had conceded nearly exactly the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less generous later on, allowing 27 from his last six. He took one dismissal, holding a sharp, low-down catch, diving to his right side, to conclude Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, making up for managing merely three runs in the opening knock, was one of three players fifty-scorers in the Lions' top order. Ben McKinney's performances from opening batsman were steadier than those from their No 3: he notched 66 in their first innings and went two better in their second innings, facing 61 deliveries for his fifty, with five fours and two sixes, each against Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell got to 68 prior to a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover position, who held a stooping grab at shin level.

Cox displayed like consistency, and backed up his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at about a run per delivery. There were some remarkably handsome strokes during his innings, including a straight drive and a pull from successive Carse balls to attain his fifty.

Following his absence from the first day of this game with a stomach issue and provided only the most minor of contributions to the follow-up, Brydon Carse pitched brilliantly when finally given the chance, with McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three wickets.

This report will update