Ollie Pope Reinforces Claim to England's No 3 Spot with Strong 90 Against Lions
It's difficult to determine how much of England's warm-up game will prove relevant when their Ashes contest starts 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – a brief gap in geography or duration but light years away in import and atmosphere – but if it managed solely boosting Pope's self-belief, that on its own has made the effort valuable.
The English side's No 3 – this fact is undoubtedly absolutely clear – followed his first-innings century by notching a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was notable was not so much the total of runs but the way in which they were made. At times the young batsman looked dominant, hitting a twelve fours and a two of sixes, connecting with the ball beautifully but with aggressive determination.
It was merely a exhibition game against a England Lions team that deployed exactly 11 bowlers throughout a game played in before a small group of spectators in a public park, but it was nevertheless very impressive. For the record, the England team, needing of 202 once the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, won by a margin of five wickets after Jamie Smith raced the team over the finish line with a series of boundaries.
Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two major first-innings' performers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Root made further points – 31 on this time – but was far from more assured, prior to being bemused and subsequently dismissed by Will Jacks. Harry Brook met an same fate shortly after.
Shoaib Bashir – who finished the fixture having delivered 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have encountered a portion of the batting he bowled to rather hostile. His first six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney feasting to bowling that if not completely poor was certainly far from dangerous.
By the conclusion the sixth spell of that period, the English side's other pitchers had allowed almost precisely the identical number of points – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a little less generous in time, conceding 27 from his last six. He took one dismissal, making a sharp, low-down grab, diving to his right side, to conclude Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 balls.
Jacob Bethell, making up for achieving just three runs in the opening knock, was one of three players with fifties in the Lions' top four. Ben McKinney's performances from opener were more consistent than those from their number three: he scored 66 in their first innings and scored 68 in their follow-up, facing 61 balls over his half-century, with five and two six-hit shots, the pair against Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell got to 68 before a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who made a low grab at ankle height.
Cox exhibited comparable reliability, and followed his initial innings' 53 with an additional 57, at about a run per delivery. He produced some outstandingly beautiful hits during his innings, including a straight drive and a pull against back-to-back Carse deliveries to attain his fifty.
Following his absence from the first day of this match with a illness and contributed merely the smallest of contributions to the second day, Brydon Carse bowled superbly when finally provided the opportunity, with McKinney and Jordan Cox included in his three dismissals.
This report could change
