Pope Cements Status to England Cricket's Number Three Role with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It's tough to gauge how relevant of the English team's preparatory game will end up being important when their Ashes series contest kicks off 10km away at Perth Stadium on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but worlds away in importance and mood – but if it achieved nothing more than boosting Pope's confidence, that by itself has made the exercise valuable.

England's No 3 – this fact is undoubtedly totally certain – followed his initial innings century by scoring a further 90 in the second, and what was notable was less about the number of runs but the style in which they were scored. Periodically the young batsman appeared imperious, smashing a twelve fours and a pair of maximums, connecting with the ball sweetly but with aggressive determination.

This was only a practice match versus a England Lions team that employed fully 11 bowlers across a contest staged in front of a few dozen of spectators in a local ground, but it was nevertheless hugely praiseworthy. For the record, the England team, chasing of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets when Jamie Smith hurried the team across the winning target with a flurry of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two major first-innings' successes, both failed in the second innings, while Root made further runs – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more dominant, before being confused and duly dismissed by Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an same fate soon afterwards.

Bashir – who ended the match having bowled 12 bowling spells for either team – will have found a portion of the hitting he faced pretty hostile. His opening six overs against the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to pitching that if not entirely wayward was surely far from threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth of that period, the English side's remaining three bowlers had allowed almost precisely the same number of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler grew a slightly less giving in time, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He took a single wicket, making a clever, diving snare, leaning to his right side, to finish Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, redeeming achieving only three in the initial innings, was one of three players half-centurions in the Lions team's top order. McKinney's scores from opening batsman were more consistent than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their first innings and improved by two in their follow-up, taking 61 deliveries over his fifty, with five fours and two sixes, each from Bashir's bowling. Bethell made 68 before a mis-hit to Stokes at cover position, who held a low grab at ankle height.

Cox exhibited similar steadiness, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at about a scoring rate of one. He produced several outstandingly beautiful shots during his innings, such as a straight hit and a pull against back-to-back Carse balls to attain his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the first day of this fixture with a stomach upset and provided just the least significant of contributions to the follow-up, Carse pitched superbly when at last given the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three dismissals.

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