Ollie Pope Reinforces Status to England Cricket's No 3 Spot with Impressive 90 Versus Lions

It is hard to know how much of England's warm-up match will end up being meaningful when their Ashes series contest starts a short distance away at Perth Stadium on Friday – a short span in space or time but ages away in importance and mood – but if it achieved nothing more than enhancing Ollie Pope's self-belief, that by itself has rendered the exercise worthwhile.

England's No 3 – that point is surely completely clear – built on his first-innings ton by scoring an additional 90 in the second innings, and what was remarkable was not so much the total of runs but the style in which they were scored. At times the 27-year-old looked commanding, smashing a dozen boundaries and a two of maximums, timing the ball beautifully but with fierce intent.

This was merely a friendly versus a Lions squad that used fully 11 bowlers across a match staged in amid a few dozen of onlookers in a open field, but it was nonetheless extremely impressive. To note, the England team, chasing of 202 following the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets in hand when Jamie Smith sped the team over the winning target with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two big first-innings achievers, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root added additional runs – 31 on this instance – but was not enormously more assured, then being confused and duly dismissed by Jacks. Brook suffered an identical fate a little later.

Bashir – who finished the game having bowled 12 overs for either team – will have faced a portion of the hitting he confronted rather challenging. His initial six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not completely loose was certainly far from dangerous.

At the end the sixth spell of those deliveries, England's other pitchers had allowed roughly the identical total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a slightly less leaky in time, giving up 27 from his final six. He secured a single wicket, holding a sharp, low-down catch, falling to his right, to finish Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for achieving just three in the first innings, was a member of a trio of fifty-scorers in the Lions team's leading batsmen. McKinney's returns from opener were more reliable than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their initial knock and scored 68 in their second innings, facing 61 balls for his 50 runs, with five fours and two sixes, the pair off Bashir's deliveries. Bethell reached 68 prior to a mishit to Stokes at cover position, who made a stooping catch at shin level.

Jordan Cox displayed comparable steadiness, and followed his first-innings 53 with another 57, at just over a run a ball. There were a few remarkably handsome strokes during his innings, featuring a straight drive and a hook against consecutive Carse balls to attain his half century.

After missing the initial day of this game with a stomach issue and provided just the smallest of inputs to the follow-up, Carse pitched excellently when eventually given the chance, with Ben McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

This report may be updated