Pope Strengthens Claim to England Cricket's No 3 Role with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It is difficult to gauge how relevant of England's warm-up match will prove relevant when their Ashes series campaign starts 10km away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – no distance in space or time but ages away in import and atmosphere – but if it achieved solely strengthening Pope's confidence, that alone has rendered the exercise valuable.

England's number three batsman – that point is surely completely certain – followed his first-innings hundred by adding another 90 in the second, and the truly impressive was less about the total of scored runs but the style in which they were made. At times the player looked commanding, hitting a dozen boundaries and a pair of sixes, hitting the ball perfectly but with fierce determination.

It was only a practice match versus a England Lions squad that used a total of 11 bowlers across a contest held in before a handful of spectators in a open field, but it was nonetheless very praiseworthy. For the record, the England team, chasing of 202 after the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets after Smith sped the team over the conclusion with a series of boundaries.

Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other major first-innings performers, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Root made further points – 31 on this instance – but was far from more convincing, before being puzzled and subsequently out by Will Jacks. Brook suffered an similar end soon afterwards.

Bashir – who ended the match having delivered 12 overs for both teams – will have encountered a portion of the strokes he faced rather hostile. His first six deliveries versus the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney taking advantage to bowling that if not completely loose was surely not very intimidating.

At the end the sixth over of that period, England's three other pitchers had allowed almost precisely the identical total of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler became a slightly less generous in time, giving up 27 from his final six. He took one dismissal, making a sharp, low-down grab, diving to his right, to conclude Bethell's knock for 70, facing 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for managing just a small score in the opening knock, was among three players with fifties in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's performances from opener were more reliable than the scores of their number three: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and improved by two in their second, facing 61 balls over his half-century, with five boundaries and a couple sixes, the pair off Bashir's deliveries. Bethell reached 68 prior to a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover, who made a low grab at shin level.

Jordan Cox displayed like reliability, and backed up his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a scoring rate of one. He played several outstandingly handsome shots en route, including a drive down the ground and a pull shot from consecutive Brydon Carse balls to reach his 50 runs.

Following his absence from the first day of this match with a illness and contributed only the most minor of inputs to the second day, Brydon Carse bowled brilliantly when finally provided the chance, with Ben McKinney and Cox part of his three wickets.

This report may be updated