Pope Reinforces Status to England's Number Three Slot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It's hard to gauge how much of England's preparatory match will end up being important when their Ashes battle kicks off a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but ages away in import and mood – but if it accomplished nothing more than boosting Pope's self-belief, that on its own has rendered the endeavor worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – this fact is surely totally certain – built on his initial innings hundred by scoring an additional 90 in the follow-up innings, and the truly impressive was less about the number of runs but the manner in which they were made. Periodically the 27-year-old seemed commanding, striking a twelve fours and a two of maximums, timing the ball perfectly but with fierce purpose.

This was merely a friendly against a England Lions squad that deployed a total of 11 bowlers during a game held in amid a handful of people in a open field, but it was still hugely praiseworthy. To note, the England team, chasing of 202 following the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets once Smith hurried the team across the conclusion with a stream of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the other two significant first-innings achievers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Joe Root made additional points – 31 on this time – but was not enormously more dominant, then being confused and duly bowled by Jacks. Harry Brook suffered an similar outcome a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the fixture having bowled 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have encountered some of the batting he bowled to quite challenging. His opening six overs against the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney feasting to deliveries that if not entirely poor was surely far from intimidating.

At the end the sixth of that period, the English side's three other pitchers had conceded roughly the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a slightly less generous in time, giving up 27 from his last six. He took a single wicket, taking a smart, low grab, leaning to his right, to finish Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for achieving merely a small score in the initial innings, was among three players fifty-scorers in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's returns from opener were more reliable than the scores of their No 3: he made 66 in their first batting effort and improved by two in their second innings, taking 61 balls for his 50 runs, with five fours and a couple maximums, both off Bashir's pitching. Bethell made 68 prior to a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover, who held a low catch at low down.

Jordan Cox showed similar consistency, and backed up his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at about a run a ball. He played several outstandingly elegant shots on the way, featuring a drive down the ground and a hook off back-to-back Brydon Carse balls to reach his fifty.

Having missed the initial day of this match with a stomach upset and provided just the smallest of inputs to the follow-up, Brydon Carse delivered excellently when at last given the chance, with Ben McKinney and Cox among his three scalps.

This report could change