Pope Cements Claim to England's Number Three Spot with Bold 90 Against Lions

It's hard to gauge how much of England's preparatory game will be remotely meaningful when their Ashes battle kicks off a short distance away at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – no distance in geography or duration but ages away in importance and mood – but if it managed solely enhancing Ollie Pope's confidence, that on its own has rendered the exercise beneficial.

The English side's No 3 – that point is surely absolutely clear – built on his first-innings century by scoring an additional 90 in the follow-up innings, and the most impressive was not so much the quantity of runs but the way in which they were scored. On occasion the 27-year-old appeared commanding, hitting a twelve fours and a pair of sixes, timing the ball beautifully but with fierce intent.

This was merely a practice match against a Lions team that employed exactly 11 bowlers throughout a game staged in before a few dozen of onlookers in a public park, but it was nonetheless extremely noteworthy. For the record, England, set a target of 202 once the Lions ended their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets once Jamie Smith sped the team across the winning target with a stream of fours and sixes.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the remaining big first-innings performers, both failed in the second knock, while Joe Root made further points – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more assured, prior to being confused and subsequently bowled by Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an identical outcome a little later.

Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the game having delivered 12 bowling spells for each side – will have faced a portion of the hitting he faced rather hostile. His initial six overs against the Lions went for 56, with McKinney tucking in to bowling that if not entirely poor was surely far from threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth of those overs, England's remaining three pitchers had given away almost precisely the equivalent number of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a little less giving in time, conceding 27 from his last six. He took one dismissal, making a smart, diving grab, falling to his right, to end Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 balls.

Bethell, making up for scoring just a small score in the initial innings, was among a trio of players with fifties in the Lions' top four. McKinney's performances from opener were steadier than the scores of their number three: he notched 66 in their first batting effort and scored 68 in their second innings, taking 61 deliveries for his fifty, with five boundaries and two maximums, the pair from Bashir's's bowling. Jacob Bethell got to 68 prior to a poor shot to Ben Stokes at cover position, who took a low grab at ankle height.

Cox displayed comparable steadiness, and backed up his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at about a run a ball. He played some outstandingly elegant strokes on the way, such as a straight hit and a hook from back-to-back Carse deliveries to reach his half century.

Having missed the initial day of this match with a illness and made just the most minor of efforts to the second, Carse pitched excellently when at last afforded the chance, with Ben McKinney and Cox included in his three wickets.

The update will update