Pope Reinforces Position to England's No 3 Spot with Strong 90 Against Lions

It's difficult to determine how relevant of England's preparatory fixture will end up being important when their Ashes series contest kicks off a short distance away at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in space or time but light years away in importance and mood – but if it managed solely boosting Pope's confidence, that on its own has rendered the exercise beneficial.

The English side's number three batsman – that much is undoubtedly absolutely certain – built on his first-innings hundred by notching an additional 90 in the second innings, and the truly impressive was not so much the total of scored runs but the way in which they were scored. On occasion the 27-year-old seemed dominant, hitting a twelve boundaries and a pair of maximums, connecting with the ball perfectly but with aggressive purpose.

This was just a exhibition game versus a Lions side that employed fully 11 bowlers across a game played in front of a small group of people in a open field, but it was still very noteworthy. For the record, England, chasing of 202 after the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, succeeded by a margin of five wickets once Jamie Smith raced the team over the finish line with a series of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings achievers, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Joe Root added several more points – 31 on this instance – but was not enormously more assured, prior to being bemused and accordingly bowled by Will Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an identical outcome a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who finished the fixture having delivered 12 bowling spells for each side – will have faced some of the batting he bowled to rather challenging. His initial six deliveries against the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to deliveries that if not entirely poor was surely not overly intimidating.

By the conclusion the sixth of that period, the English side's remaining three pitchers had allowed nearly exactly the identical number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a somewhat less generous as time passed, giving up 27 from his final six. He claimed a single wicket, holding a smart, diving grab, leaning to his right, to conclude Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 balls.

Bethell, compensating for managing just a small score in the first innings, was a member of a trio of half-centurions in the Lions' leading batsmen. Ben McKinney's performances from opening batsman were more reliable than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their follow-up, facing 61 deliveries over his half-century, with five and a couple six-hit shots, both against Bashir's deliveries. Bethell got to 68 then a mis-hit to Ben Stokes at cover position, who took a low grab at ankle height.

Jordan Cox showed similar consistency, and built on his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at just over a run per delivery. He played some remarkably handsome hits en route, such as a straight drive and a pull off successive Brydon Carse balls to achieve his fifty.

Following his absence from the initial day of this game with a stomach upset and made merely the most minor of inputs to the second, Brydon Carse delivered superbly when finally afforded the opportunity, with Ben McKinney and Cox part of his three dismissals.

This report will update