Ollie Pope Cements Claim to England Cricket's Number Three Slot with Impressive 90 Against Lions
It's difficult to know how much of England's preparatory match will be remotely relevant when their Ashes series contest kicks off a short distance away at Perth Stadium on the coming Friday – a short span in geography or duration but ages away in significance and mood – but if it accomplished nothing more than enhancing Ollie Pope's self-belief, that on its own has made the effort valuable.
The English side's No 3 – that much is undoubtedly completely clear – followed his first-innings hundred by scoring another 90 in the second innings, and the most impressive was not so much the total of runs but the way in which they were accumulated. Periodically the young batsman appeared commanding, smashing a dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes, timing the ball beautifully but with devilish purpose.
This was just a practice match against a Lions squad that employed a total of 11 bowlers across a contest staged in before a handful of spectators in a open field, but it was still very noteworthy. For the record, the England team, needing of 202 once the Lions declared their second innings on 251 for six, triumphed by a margin of five wickets after Jamie Smith hurried the team over the finish line with a flurry of fours and sixes.
Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two major first-innings successes, both were dismissed in the second innings, while Root scored several more points – 31 on this instance – but was far from more assured, before being confused and duly out by Will Jacks. Brook met an same fate soon afterwards.
Shoaib Bashir – who concluded the match having bowled 12 overs for both teams – will have faced part of the batting he confronted quite hostile. His first six overs versus the Lions conceded 56, with Ben McKinney tucking in to bowling that if not entirely loose was definitely far from threatening.
By the conclusion the sixth over of those deliveries, the English side's three other pitchers had conceded almost precisely the equivalent total of points – 57 – from 15, though Bashir turned a little less giving in time, allowing 27 from his last six. He claimed one dismissal, making a smart, diving catch, leaning to his right, to conclude Jacob Bethell's innings for 70, facing 80 balls.
Bethell, making up for scoring only a small score in the opening knock, was among a trio of players with fifties in the Lions' leading batsmen. McKinney's performances from opener were steadier than those from their No 3: he scored 66 in their first batting effort and scored 68 in their second innings, facing 61 balls over his 50 runs, with five and two sixes, both against Bashir's deliveries. Jacob Bethell reached 68 then a poor shot to Stokes at cover position, who held a bending catch at low down.
Cox showed similar steadiness, and followed his initial innings' 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a run per delivery. He played a few remarkably elegant strokes en route, such as a drive down the ground and a pull off consecutive Carse deliveries to attain his half century.
Having missed the initial day of this game with a stomach issue and contributed only the most minor of efforts to the second, Brydon Carse bowled brilliantly when finally given the shot, with McKinney and Cox among his three scalps.
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