Pope Cements Claim to England's No 3 Spot with Impressive 90 Versus Lions

It's difficult to determine how relevant of England's warm-up game will end up being important when their Ashes series campaign kicks off 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – no distance in space or time but ages away in importance and mood – but if it achieved only strengthening Pope's self-belief, that on its own has rendered the effort worthwhile.

England's number three batsman – that point is certainly absolutely established – built on his first-innings century by scoring an additional 90 in the second innings, and the most remarkable was less about the quantity of runs but the way in which they were scored. Periodically the player looked commanding, striking a dozen boundaries and a pair of maximums, timing the ball beautifully but with devilish intent.

It was only a practice match against a England Lions squad that deployed fully 11 pitchers during a contest staged in before a handful of people in a public park, but it was still hugely noteworthy. Officially, the England team, chasing of 202 following the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets once Smith sped the team over the conclusion with a flurry of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other big first-innings achievers, both fell short in the follow-up, while Joe Root scored additional runs – 31 on this instance – but was not enormously more convincing, then being confused and duly out by Jacks. Brook experienced an same fate soon afterwards.

Shoaib Bashir – who ended the fixture having delivered 12 bowling spells for either team – will have faced a portion of the hitting he faced quite hostile. His initial six overs versus the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not completely loose was certainly not very dangerous.

By the conclusion the sixth of those overs, the English side's other pitchers had given away almost precisely the identical amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less generous in time, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He secured one dismissal, taking a sharp, low grab, falling to his right side, to conclude Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 deliveries.

Bethell, making up for managing merely three in the initial innings, was one of three half-centurions in the Lions' leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's performances from opening batsman were more reliable than those from their No 3: he made 66 in their initial knock and scored 68 in their second innings, facing 61 balls to reach his 50 runs, with five fours and two sixes, each against Bashir's's pitching. Jacob Bethell reached 68 before a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover position, who took a low grab at shin level.

Cox displayed like steadiness, and built on his initial innings' 53 with another 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. There were a few exceptionally handsome shots during his innings, such as a drive down the ground and a pull from consecutive Carse deliveries to reach his 50 runs.

Having missed the opening day of this game with a illness and contributed merely the most minor of contributions to the second day, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when finally given the shot, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three scalps.

This report may be updated