Pope Strengthens Claim to England's No 3 Slot with Strong 90 Against Lions

It is tough to gauge how significant of the English team's practice fixture will end up being important when their Ashes series battle kicks off not far at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a short span in space or time but light years away in significance and atmosphere – but if it managed nothing more than boosting Pope's assurance, that on its own has rendered the exercise beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – this fact is certainly completely clear – followed his first-innings hundred by scoring a further 90 in the second innings, and what was remarkable was not so much the total of runs but the style in which they were accumulated. Periodically the player appeared commanding, smashing a dozen fours and a two of maximums, hitting the ball perfectly but with fierce purpose.

It was merely a practice match against a England Lions team that used fully 11 bowlers during a match staged in front of a few dozen of onlookers in a local ground, but it was nevertheless hugely impressive. To note, England, set a target of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith hurried the team over the winning target with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other big first-innings performers, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Joe Root made several more runs – 31 on this instance – but was not enormously more assured, then being bemused and duly out by Will Jacks. Brook experienced an similar fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the game having bowled 12 overs for both teams – will have faced a portion of the batting he confronted quite challenging. His first six deliveries versus the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not completely loose was surely not very dangerous.

After the sixth of those overs, the English side's remaining three pitchers had allowed roughly the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler grew a little less generous in time, allowing 27 from his remaining six. He claimed one wicket, making a clever, low catch, falling to his right, to end Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 balls.

Bethell, compensating for achieving merely a small score in the initial innings, was a member of three players with fifties in the Lions team's leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's scores from opener were more consistent than those from their No 3: he notched 66 in their first innings and went two better in their follow-up, using 61 balls to reach his fifty, with five fours and a couple six-hit shots, both off Bashir's's deliveries. Jacob Bethell made 68 before a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover position, who took a low catch at shin level.

Cox exhibited similar consistency, and backed up his first-innings 53 with another 57, at about a run per delivery. There were some remarkably beautiful hits on the way, such as a straight hit and a pull shot off successive Carse balls to attain his fifty.

Having missed the first day of this match with a illness and provided only the least significant of contributions to the follow-up, Carse pitched superbly when at last given the shot, with Ben McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

The coverage may be updated