Pope Reinforces Position to England Cricket's No 3 Slot with Bold 90 Against Lions
It's difficult to determine how significant of England's practice match will end up being important when their Ashes series contest starts not far at the Perth venue on the coming Friday – a brief gap in space or time but worlds away in import and environment – but if it achieved only strengthening Pope's self-belief, that alone has made the effort beneficial.
The English side's No 3 – that much is surely absolutely certain – followed his first-innings ton by notching a further 90 in the follow-up innings, and what was notable was not so much the total of scored runs but the style in which they were scored. At times the young batsman looked commanding, striking a twelve fours and a couple of maximums, hitting the ball sweetly but with devilish purpose.
This was just a exhibition game against a England Lions team that deployed a total of 11 pitchers during a game held in front of a few dozen of people in a local ground, but it was nonetheless very impressive. Officially, the England team, needing of 202 once the Lions ended their follow-on innings on 251 for six, succeeded by five wickets after Jamie Smith sped the team past the winning target with a series of fours and sixes.
Crawley and Ben Duckett, the other two significant first-innings' successes, both fell short in the second knock, while Joe Root scored additional runs – 31 on this instance – but was not significantly more convincing, then being puzzled and subsequently bowled by Jacks. Harry Brook experienced an similar end a little later.
Shoaib Bashir – who finished the match having bowled 12 bowling spells for both teams – will have found some of the strokes he bowled to rather challenging. His first six deliveries against the Lions went for 56, with Ben McKinney taking advantage to deliveries that if not exactly poor was definitely not very threatening.
At the end the sixth over of those deliveries, England's other pitchers had given away nearly exactly the equivalent amount of runs – 57 – from 15, though the bowler turned a somewhat less leaky in time, conceding 27 from his last six. He took one wicket, holding a sharp, low grab, falling to his right side, to conclude Bethell's knock for 70, off 80 balls.
Jacob Bethell, compensating for scoring only a small score in the opening knock, was among three fifty-scorers in the Lions team's top four. Ben McKinney's returns from opener were more consistent than those of their No 3: he made 66 in their initial knock and improved by two in their follow-up, facing 61 balls for his half-century, with five boundaries and a couple maximums, the pair against Bashir's's pitching. Jacob Bethell made 68 then a mis-hit to Stokes at cover, who took a bending grab at ankle height.
Cox exhibited similar reliability, and followed his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at about a scoring rate of one. There were a few outstandingly elegant hits on the way, featuring a straight hit and a hook from consecutive Brydon Carse deliveries to achieve his half century.
After missing the initial day of this match with a stomach issue and contributed just the least significant of inputs to the follow-up, Carse bowled excellently when at last afforded the chance, with McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three wickets.
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