Pope Cements Status to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It is tough to know how significant of England's preparatory game will be remotely relevant when their Ashes contest kicks off a short distance away at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – no distance in space or time but worlds away in importance and atmosphere – but if it achieved solely enhancing Pope's confidence, that alone has rendered the exercise valuable.

The English side's No 3 – this fact is surely completely certain – built on his initial innings hundred by notching an additional 90 in the second, and the truly remarkable was not merely the total of scored runs but the manner in which they were made. Periodically the young batsman seemed commanding, smashing a twelve fours and a two of sixes, connecting with the ball beautifully but with aggressive intent.

This was just a friendly versus a Lions team that employed fully 11 pitchers across a game played in amid a few dozen of spectators in a open field, but it was nonetheless hugely noteworthy. Officially, the England team, set a target of 202 following the Lions declared their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by a margin of five wickets after Smith raced the team over the finish line with a series of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other significant first-innings' successes, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root made further runs – 31 on this instance – but was not enormously more assured, before being puzzled and accordingly dismissed by Jacks. Brook met an identical fate a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the game having delivered 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have found some of the batting he confronted pretty aggressive. His first six overs versus the Lions cost 56, with McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not entirely wayward was certainly not very dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth spell of those overs, England's three other pitchers had conceded almost precisely the same number of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a somewhat less giving as time passed, allowing 27 from his last six. He took one wicket, holding a sharp, diving catch, diving to his right, to end Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, facing 80 balls.

Jacob Bethell, redeeming managing only three in the opening knock, was one of three half-centurions in the Lions' top order. Ben McKinney's scores from opening batsman were steadier than those of their No 3: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and improved by two in their second innings, taking 61 balls to reach his 50 runs, with five and two six-hit shots, each against Bashir's bowling. Jacob Bethell got to 68 then a mis-hit to Stokes at cover position, who held a stooping grab at low down.

Jordan Cox displayed like reliability, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at about a run per delivery. There were some remarkably handsome strokes en route, such as a straight hit and a hook against consecutive Carse deliveries to attain his 50 runs.

Having missed the opening day of this fixture with a stomach upset and made only the least significant of efforts to the second day, Brydon Carse delivered excellently when at last provided the chance, with Ben McKinney and Cox among his three wickets.

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