Ollie Pope Strengthens Status to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It is hard to gauge how relevant of England's warm-up game will be remotely meaningful when their Ashes contest kicks off 10km away at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a short span in geography or duration but worlds away in significance and environment – but if it accomplished nothing more than enhancing Ollie Pope's confidence, that by itself has rendered the exercise worthwhile.

England's number three batsman – that point is certainly totally clear – followed his initial innings century by notching an additional 90 in the follow-up innings, and the most impressive was not so much the number of scored runs but the manner in which they were accumulated. At times the 27-year-old seemed imperious, hitting a dozen fours and a couple of sixes, hitting the ball sweetly but with aggressive intent.

It was just a exhibition game versus a England Lions side that used exactly 11 bowlers during a match played in front of a few dozen of onlookers in a local ground, but it was still hugely impressive. To note, the England team, set a target of 202 once the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by a margin of five wickets when Jamie Smith hurried the team across the finish line with a flurry of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two big first-innings successes, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Root scored additional points – 31 on this occasion – but was far from more dominant, before being bemused and subsequently out by Jacks. Harry Brook met an identical outcome a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the game having bowled 12 bowling spells for each side – will have faced a portion of the hitting he faced pretty challenging. His opening six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not entirely loose was certainly far from dangerous.

After the sixth spell of those overs, the English side's other pitchers had conceded almost precisely the identical amount of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a somewhat less generous as time passed, giving up 27 from his last six. He took one dismissal, taking a smart, diving snare, falling to his right side, to end Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Bethell, redeeming achieving just three runs in the opening knock, was one of three players fifty-scorers in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's scores from opening batsman were steadier than those from their number three: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and improved by two in their follow-up, facing 61 balls for his fifty, with five fours and a couple six-hit shots, both off Bashir's bowling. Bethell reached 68 prior to a mis-hit to Stokes at cover, who held a stooping catch at ankle height.

Cox showed similar reliability, and followed his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at just over a run per delivery. He played some outstandingly beautiful hits during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a pull against back-to-back Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the first day of this match with a stomach upset and made just the most minor of inputs to the follow-up, Brydon Carse bowled brilliantly when finally provided the opportunity, with McKinney and Cox among his three scalps.

This report could change