Pope Reinforces Status to England's Number Three Spot with Strong 90 Against Lions

It is hard to determine how relevant of England's warm-up match will end up being meaningful when their Ashes series battle kicks off 10km away at Perth Stadium on Friday – a short span in geography or duration but light years away in significance and mood – but if it managed nothing more than boosting Pope's self-belief, that by itself has rendered the exercise valuable.

The English side's number three batsman – that point is certainly absolutely established – built on his initial innings ton by notching another 90 in the follow-up innings, and the truly impressive was not merely the quantity of scored runs but the style in which they were made. Periodically the young batsman seemed commanding, smashing a dozen boundaries and a two of sixes, connecting with the ball beautifully but with aggressive determination.

This was merely a friendly against a England Lions side that used a total of 11 pitchers during a contest played in amid a handful of people in a open field, but it was nevertheless extremely noteworthy. For the record, the England team, chasing of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand after Smith raced the team across the winning target with a flurry of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining major first-innings successes, both fell short in the second knock, while Joe Root made further runs – 31 on this occasion – but was far from more dominant, before being confused and subsequently dismissed by Will Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an same end shortly after.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the game having bowled 12 overs for both teams – will have encountered part of the strokes he bowled to quite hostile. His initial six deliveries versus the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney taking advantage to bowling that if not exactly poor was certainly not overly intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those deliveries, England's remaining three pitchers had allowed roughly the identical amount of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a slightly less giving in time, conceding 27 from his last six. He secured one dismissal, making a clever, low-down catch, diving to his right, to finish Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, redeeming managing just three in the first innings, was among three players half-centurions in the Lions team's top four. Ben McKinney's performances from opening batsman were steadier than those of their number three: he scored 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their second, taking 61 balls for his half-century, with five fours and a couple maximums, the pair off Bashir's bowling. Jacob Bethell reached 68 then a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who made a bending catch at shin level.

Cox displayed like consistency, and built on his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He played a few outstandingly beautiful hits during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a pull shot against successive Brydon Carse deliveries to attain his 50 runs.

Having missed the opening day of this fixture with a stomach upset and provided just the most minor of inputs to the second day, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when finally given the opportunity, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three wickets.

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