Ollie Pope Strengthens Status to England's No 3 Spot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It is tough to gauge how relevant of the English team's preparatory match will end up being relevant when their Ashes campaign begins not far at Perth Stadium on Friday – no distance in space or time but light years away in import and environment – but if it managed solely boosting Ollie Pope's assurance, that by itself has rendered the exercise beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is certainly totally certain – built on his initial innings century by scoring another 90 in the follow-up innings, and the most notable was not merely the total of runs but the manner in which they were scored. On occasion the player looked commanding, smashing a twelve boundaries and a couple of maximums, connecting with the ball sweetly but with devilish intent.

This was just a practice match against a England Lions side that employed a total of 11 bowlers throughout a match played in front of a small group of onlookers in a public park, but it was nonetheless extremely impressive. For the record, the England team, set a target of 202 once the Lions ended their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets when Smith hurried the team over the conclusion with a stream of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the two other significant first-innings achievers, both fell short in the follow-up, while Root scored additional runs – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more convincing, before being puzzled and duly dismissed by Jacks. Brook met an identical outcome a little later.

Bashir – who concluded the match having bowled 12 bowling spells for either team – will have encountered part of the hitting he faced quite aggressive. His opening six deliveries versus the Lions cost 56, with McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not exactly loose was certainly not overly intimidating.

At the end the sixth spell of those deliveries, the English side's remaining three pitchers had allowed roughly the equivalent number of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a somewhat less leaky later on, giving up 27 from his last six. He took one wicket, taking a clever, low-down catch, diving to his right, to conclude Bethell's innings for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for achieving just three runs in the first innings, was among three players half-centurions in the Lions team's leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's returns from opening batsman were steadier than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their initial knock and scored 68 in their second innings, taking 61 deliveries over his fifty, with five fours and two six-hit shots, each from Bashir's's pitching. Jacob Bethell made 68 prior to a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover, who made a stooping grab at shin level.

Jordan Cox exhibited comparable reliability, and backed up his first-innings 53 with another 57, at about a run per delivery. There were a few remarkably handsome hits during his innings, including a straight hit and a hook from successive Carse balls to achieve his half century.

After missing the initial day of this game with a stomach issue and made only the most minor of efforts to the second day, Carse pitched brilliantly when eventually provided the chance, with McKinney and Cox among his three wickets.

This report may be updated