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

It's tough to know how significant of the English team's practice game will prove relevant when their Ashes series campaign starts a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – no distance in space or time but worlds away in import and atmosphere – but if it achieved solely enhancing Pope's self-belief, that on its own has rendered the endeavor beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – that point is surely totally certain – followed his first-innings century by scoring another 90 in the second, and what was impressive was not so much the quantity of scored runs but the manner in which they were scored. Periodically the young batsman looked dominant, striking a dozen fours and a pair of sixes, timing the ball beautifully but with aggressive determination.

It was merely a practice match against a England Lions side that deployed a total of 11 pitchers throughout a contest held in front of a few dozen of people in a public park, but it was still very praiseworthy. For the record, the England team, set a target of 202 following the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith hurried the team past the conclusion with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other major first-innings performers, both failed in the second innings, while Joe Root scored further points – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more dominant, then being puzzled and subsequently dismissed by Will Jacks. Harry Brook met an similar end soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the match having delivered 12 overs for either team – will have faced some of the strokes he bowled to quite hostile. His first six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not entirely loose was definitely not overly dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those deliveries, England's other bowlers had allowed nearly exactly the equivalent amount of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a somewhat less giving in time, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He secured one dismissal, taking a sharp, low-down catch, diving to his right side, to conclude Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, compensating for scoring just three runs in the first innings, was one of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions team's leading batsmen. McKinney's returns from opening batsman were more reliable than those from their No 3: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and improved by two in their second, facing 61 deliveries for his 50 runs, with five boundaries and two maximums, both against Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell reached 68 prior to a mishit to Stokes at cover position, who made a low catch at low down.

Cox displayed comparable reliability, and followed his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at just over a scoring rate of one. He played several outstandingly elegant shots during his innings, featuring a straight hit and a hook off back-to-back Brydon Carse balls to attain his half century.

Following his absence from the initial day of this match with a illness and contributed only the smallest of efforts to the second day, Carse bowled excellently when finally given the chance, with Ben McKinney and Cox among his three wickets.

This report may be updated