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

It's hard to gauge how relevant of England's practice fixture will end up being relevant when their Ashes battle starts not far at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in space or time but light years away in importance and atmosphere – but if it accomplished solely boosting Pope's assurance, that alone has made the effort worthwhile.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is undoubtedly completely established – followed his first-innings century by notching an additional 90 in the second innings, and what was notable was less about the quantity of runs but the manner in which they were scored. At times the young batsman looked imperious, striking a dozen boundaries and a two of maximums, hitting the ball perfectly but with aggressive intent.

This was merely a exhibition game versus a England Lions side that used a total of 11 bowlers during a match held in amid a small group of spectators in a open field, but it was nonetheless extremely impressive. For the record, the England team, chasing of 202 after the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, won by a margin of five wickets when Smith raced the team past the winning target with a series of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the remaining major first-innings successes, both fell short in the second knock, while Root added additional runs – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more convincing, prior to being puzzled and accordingly bowled by Will Jacks. Harry Brook met an similar outcome shortly after.

Bashir – who finished the fixture having delivered 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have found a portion of the batting he confronted quite aggressive. His first six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not entirely loose was definitely not very threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those deliveries, the English side's other pitchers had conceded almost precisely the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a little less giving later on, allowing 27 from his final six. He took a single wicket, making a smart, low-down grab, falling to his right, to conclude Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Bethell, redeeming scoring just three runs in the initial innings, was one of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions team's top four. McKinney's scores from opening batsman were more consistent than those from their No 3: he notched 66 in their first innings and scored 68 in their follow-up, taking 61 deliveries for his fifty, with five and two sixes, both off Bashir's's pitching. Jacob Bethell got to 68 then a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover position, who held a low catch at shin level.

Cox showed comparable steadiness, and followed his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at just over a run per delivery. He produced some outstandingly elegant hits en route, such as a drive down the ground and a hook off consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to achieve his 50 runs.

Having missed the initial day of this fixture with a stomach issue and made merely the most minor of contributions to the second day, Carse pitched brilliantly when eventually afforded the chance, with Ben McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

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