Ollie Pope Reinforces Position to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Strong 90 Versus Lions
It is tough to gauge how significant of the English team's preparatory match will be remotely meaningful when their Ashes battle starts 10km away at the Perth venue on Friday – a short span in space or time but ages away in import and atmosphere – but if it managed nothing more than boosting Ollie Pope's confidence, that alone has made the exercise valuable.
England's No 3 – that much is surely totally established – built on his initial innings ton by adding a further 90 in the second innings, and what was impressive was less about the quantity of scored runs but the way in which they were accumulated. Periodically the young batsman looked dominant, hitting a dozen boundaries and a couple of maximums, timing the ball beautifully but with devilish purpose.
It was merely a exhibition game against a England Lions squad that deployed a total of 11 bowlers throughout a contest held in front of a small group of people in a local ground, but it was nonetheless very noteworthy. For the record, England, needing of 202 once the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets in hand when Jamie Smith hurried the team past the finish line with a stream of fours and sixes.
Crawley and Ben Duckett, the two other major first-innings' achievers, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Root added further points – 31 on this time – but was far from more convincing, before being puzzled and subsequently out by Jacks. Brook met an similar fate a little later.
Shoaib Bashir – who ended the match having bowled 12 overs for each side – will have found part of the strokes he faced quite hostile. His first six overs against the Lions went for 56, with McKinney feasting to pitching that if not exactly wayward was certainly far from intimidating.
By the conclusion the sixth spell of that period, England's remaining three pitchers had conceded nearly exactly the same amount of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir became a slightly less generous later on, allowing 27 from his last six. He claimed one dismissal, making a sharp, diving snare, leaning to his right side, to finish Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, from 80 balls.
Jacob Bethell, making up for managing merely three runs in the first innings, was among three players half-centurions in the Lions' top four. Ben McKinney's performances from opener were more consistent than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and went two better in their second, using 61 deliveries to reach his half-century, with five fours and two six-hit shots, each from Bashir's pitching. Jacob Bethell got to 68 prior to a mis-hit to Stokes at cover, who took a bending catch at low down.
Jordan Cox exhibited like consistency, and backed up his first-innings 53 with an additional 57, at about a run per delivery. He produced several outstandingly elegant strokes during his innings, featuring a straight drive and a pull shot against back-to-back Brydon Carse balls to reach his 50 runs.
Following his absence from the initial day of this game with a illness and provided merely the least significant of contributions to the follow-up, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when at last afforded the shot, with McKinney and Jordan Cox part of his three dismissals.
This report may be updated
