Ollie Pope Cements Claim to England Cricket's No 3 Slot with Strong 90 Versus Lions

It is tough to gauge how relevant of England's preparatory match will prove important when their Ashes contest kicks off 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in space or time but worlds away in import and environment – but if it achieved nothing more than strengthening Pope's confidence, that on its own has rendered the exercise valuable.

England's number three batsman – that point is surely completely established – built on his initial innings century by notching an additional 90 in the follow-up innings, and the most impressive was not merely the quantity of scored runs but the way in which they were made. Periodically the player appeared commanding, striking a twelve boundaries and a couple of maximums, hitting the ball beautifully but with devilish purpose.

This was just a practice match against a England Lions team that employed exactly 11 pitchers throughout a match played in before a handful of people in a local ground, but it was nonetheless very praiseworthy. Officially, England, needing of 202 once the Lions closed their second innings on 251 for six, won by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith sped the team past the winning target with a flurry of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other major first-innings' performers, both were dismissed in the second knock, while Root scored additional points – 31 on this instance – but was not enormously more convincing, prior to being bemused and accordingly dismissed by Jacks. Brook met an same fate shortly after.

Bashir – who ended the match having bowled 12 overs for each side – will have encountered part of the batting he confronted rather hostile. His first six overs against the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to bowling that if not entirely poor was surely not very intimidating.

At the end the sixth of those overs, England's remaining three pitchers had given away nearly exactly the identical number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a somewhat less leaky in time, giving up 27 from his last six. He took a single wicket, making a smart, low-down snare, leaning to his right side, to conclude Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for scoring merely a small score in the initial innings, was among a trio of players with fifties in the Lions' top order. McKinney's scores from opening batsman were more reliable than those from their No 3: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and went two better in their follow-up, taking 61 deliveries to reach his half-century, with five and two sixes, each off Bashir's's deliveries. Jacob Bethell reached 68 prior to a mis-hit to Stokes at cover position, who took a stooping catch at shin level.

Jordan Cox showed similar consistency, and backed up his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at just over a run per delivery. He produced some exceptionally handsome hits on the way, such as a straight drive and a hook off successive Brydon Carse deliveries to reach his fifty.

Following his absence from the first day of this game with a stomach issue and contributed just the least significant of contributions to the follow-up, Carse bowled superbly when finally afforded the chance, with McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three dismissals.

This report will update