Pope Reinforces Position to England's No 3 Slot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It's difficult to determine how much of England's preparatory match will prove meaningful when their Ashes battle begins 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – a short span in space or time but light years away in import and atmosphere – but if it managed solely enhancing Ollie Pope's confidence, that on its own has made the exercise worthwhile.

The English side's No 3 – this fact is certainly totally established – followed his initial innings century by notching another 90 in the second, and the most remarkable was not so much the number of scored runs but the style in which they were accumulated. At times the young batsman seemed dominant, striking a dozen boundaries and a two of maximums, connecting with the ball perfectly but with fierce purpose.

This was merely a friendly against a England Lions squad that deployed a total of 11 pitchers during a contest played in before a small group of onlookers in a public park, but it was nevertheless extremely praiseworthy. To note, the England team, chasing of 202 after the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets after Smith hurried the team across the conclusion with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two major first-innings' achievers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Joe Root made several more points – 31 on this occasion – but was not enormously more convincing, prior to being confused and duly out by Will Jacks. Brook suffered an identical fate soon afterwards.

Bashir – who finished the fixture having bowled 12 overs for both teams – will have found some of the hitting he bowled to quite aggressive. His initial six deliveries against the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney taking advantage to pitching that if not exactly poor was certainly not overly dangerous.

After the sixth of those overs, the English side's three other bowlers had allowed roughly the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a somewhat less generous in time, allowing 27 from his remaining six. He secured one wicket, making a sharp, diving catch, leaning to his right side, to conclude Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for achieving merely three in the opening knock, was a member of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions' top order. Ben McKinney's returns from opening batsman were steadier than those from their number three: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and scored 68 in their follow-up, taking 61 balls over his half-century, with five fours and two maximums, the pair from Bashir's pitching. Bethell reached 68 prior to a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover position, who took a bending grab at shin level.

Jordan Cox displayed similar consistency, and backed up his first-innings 53 with another 57, at just over a run a ball. He played a few outstandingly handsome shots during his innings, including a straight hit and a hook off successive Carse deliveries to reach his 50 runs.

Having missed the initial day of this fixture with a stomach issue and made merely the most minor of efforts to the second day, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when eventually provided the shot, with McKinney and Cox included in his three dismissals.

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