Ollie Pope Cements Position to England Cricket's No 3 Spot with Bold 90 Versus Lions

It's difficult to gauge how relevant of England's preparatory game will prove relevant when their Ashes contest starts a short distance away at Perth Stadium on Friday – no distance in geography or duration but light years away in importance and environment – but if it achieved only enhancing Pope's assurance, that by itself has made the effort worthwhile.

England's No 3 – that point is certainly absolutely clear – followed his initial innings hundred by adding a further 90 in the second, and the most impressive was not so much the number of scored runs but the way in which they were made. On occasion the 27-year-old seemed dominant, striking a twelve fours and a two of maximums, hitting the ball perfectly but with aggressive determination.

This was just a practice match against a England Lions team that deployed exactly 11 bowlers during a match held in before a few dozen of people in a local ground, but it was nevertheless extremely praiseworthy. Officially, the England team, chasing of 202 following the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, won by a margin of five wickets when Smith hurried the team across the finish line with a series of boundaries.

Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining significant first-innings successes, both fell short in the second innings, while Joe Root added several more points – 31 on this time – but was far from more convincing, then being bemused and accordingly out by Will Jacks. Brook met an identical outcome soon afterwards.

Bashir – who finished the fixture having bowled 12 overs for each side – will have faced part of the strokes he faced quite challenging. His first six overs against the Lions went for 56, with McKinney feasting to bowling that if not exactly poor was certainly far from dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those overs, England's remaining three pitchers had conceded almost precisely the same total of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler became a somewhat less leaky in time, allowing 27 from his last six. He took one wicket, holding a clever, low grab, falling to his right side, to conclude Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Bethell, compensating for achieving only three in the first innings, was one of three players fifty-scorers in the Lions' leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's scores from opening batsman were steadier than those of their number three: he notched 66 in their initial knock and scored 68 in their second innings, using 61 balls for his 50 runs, with five boundaries and two six-hit shots, both against Bashir's's bowling. Jacob Bethell got to 68 prior to a mishit to Ben Stokes at cover, who held a stooping grab at ankle height.

Cox showed like steadiness, and built on his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at about a scoring rate of one. There were some exceptionally beautiful strokes on the way, featuring a straight drive and a pull shot from back-to-back Brydon Carse deliveries to achieve his fifty.

Having missed the opening day of this game with a illness and made only the least significant of inputs to the second day, Carse bowled brilliantly when finally provided the chance, with McKinney and Cox part of his three scalps.

The coverage could change