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Ollie Pope Scored the first century of England’s Ashes tour and confirmed his place at number three before next week’s opening Test.
Pope scored exactly 100 off 113 balls on the second day of the international practice match against Andrew Flintoff. England The Lions sent him into the series with a much-needed shot.
He spent much of the summer avoiding pressure from Jacob Bethell and when he lost the vice-captaincy it seemed his grip on the shirt had loosened. harry brook Before the trip down.
But Bethel’s white-ball tour of New Zealand and being dismissed cheaply on the first day at Lilac Hill here in Perth strengthened Pope’s hand as the current player.
Now, buoyed by 16 fours and a six in a fine innings against the second string, Pope is setting his sights on facing the Australians across town at the Optus Stadium on Friday.
He said, “Oli performed brilliantly today, he looks in great form.” jack crawleyWhich has opening stand with 182 ben duckett Leading England quickly to a total of 426.
“He’s in really good shape with his game and he looks very focused.”
Crawley made 82 and Duckett reached 92 as the top order was shaping up well but there was double disappointment for Joe Root and Harry Brook.
The top two batsmen in the ICC world rankings missed out, with Root caught for one run after mis-pulling the ball of Durham’s Matthew Potts and Brook being bowled for two after charging down the track off Warwickshire’s Nathan Gilchrist.
Both players are vital to England’s chances in the series, but their hopes of getting some valuable time at the crease vanished as they fell to four for 16 without a wicket in the morning session.
He faced 28 balls in total, with Brook particularly becoming impatient at short notice, which saw him move down the track on three occasions and attempt a falling ramp shot that almost bounced back to seamer Matt Fisher off the leg end of the bat. Seeing the end of their innings, both men put extra miles on their legs with some running practice on the outfield.
Root’s failure to score a century in 14 Test matches in Australia is the subject of much debate, but Crawley made light of his early dismissals, saying, “He has spent a lot of time in the middle over the last few years. I think he will be fine.”
“Cricket is cricket, it’s the middle period right now. We are doing everything we can with what we have and I think we will be ready next week.”
Duckett and Crawley set an encouraging tone by hitting 26 fours and a six each, dominating the morning’s play against a revolving line of Lions bowlers, reaching nine by the end of the game.
Pope picked up the baton and defended carefully before delivering some clean strikes from the off side. He faced the bounce well to hit a six over fine-leg off Surrey’s Tom Laws, but fell soon after reaching three figures, and was bowled attempting a sweep off Shoaib Bashir.
It was a rare moment of success for the spinner, whose chances of making the Test XI were fading after being plundered for 68 runs in 16 overs. Bethel quelled those struggles with his part-time spin, taking three wickets for 14 runs.
England captain Ben Stokes scored 77 runs with the ball and took six wickets, confirming his return to fitness three months after recovering from a shoulder injury.
Mark Wood was sent for a scan on his hamstring in the afternoon, with fingers crossed he has avoided serious shock.