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• Ollie Pope says entertainment matters as England close in on win against Ireland

  Double centurion Ollie Pope was delighted with his “special” innings and played down concerns over England’s under-cooked middle-order after they closed in on victory against Ireland.

  Pope smashed 22 boundaries and three sixes in a sparkling knock of 205 from 208 balls and shared a 252-run partnership for the second wicket with opener Ben Duckett, who hit a superb 182 on day two at Lord’s.

  Pope’s double century was the quickest ever registered in a Test match in England but his dismissal after tea brought about an early declaration from Ben Stokes with England on 524 for four, holding a lead of 352.

  Ireland look destined to suffer an innings defeat in this one-off Test despite closing on 97 for three, meaning Harry Brook, Stokes and Jonny Bairstow would go into the Ashes opener on June 16 with minimal time at the crease.

  But Pope countered: “What we’re about as a side is entertaining so we wanted to let the crowd watch us have a whack for a few overs and then watch us with the new ball.

  “That’s what a full crowd at Lord’s probably wants to see as well so that was partially why we did that (declaration). I guess Jonny didn’t bat but he’s played a lot of county cricket.

  “The way cricket is now, there is not always that feeling of you need a load of innings before a series.

  “Jonny is in a really good place, his batting is in a really good place and you want to just be as fresh and confident as you can. Hopefully all the boys are feeling like that.”

  Pope was more than happy to get some time in the middle himself before the battle with Australia begins at Edgbaston and especially at Lords, where he had only passed 50 once in seven previous Test innings.

  Reflecting on going on the honours board, he admitted: “It’s very special.

  “Lord’s is not somewhere I’ve done that well over the years, I think I got 70-odd against South Africa but other than that I’ve hardly scored a run here.

  “So, it’s nice to get that one off my back, especially leading into a big summer.

  “There’s no denying that Australia’s attack is stronger than Ireland’s but scoring runs at Lord’s and scoring runs in Test matches is a habit, a good habit to get into early.”

  After Pope, who had struggled during the first hour, hit his fourth Test hundred, England debutant Josh Tongue stole the show in the evening session.

  The Worcestershire seamer impressed in the enforcer role on day one and clocked 91mph, but had Peter Moor lbw and bounced out Paul Stirling on his way to three for 27 from a fine eight-over spell.

  “For him to dive into that role he did this evening…the way he did that was perfect,” Pope admitted.

  “He has been awesome this week, he looks the part and has been great around the changing room too. I don’t think you would know it’s his debut.”

  Meanwhile, Duckett’s extraordinary new lease of life in Test cricket shows no signs of slowing.

  In his first Test innings on home soil, the Nottinghamshire batter breezed to 150 off the same number of balls to snatch the record for quickest Test 150 at Lord’s off Australian great Don Bradman before his fun ended on 182, which came at a strike rate of 102.84.

  Duckett, recalled this winter six years after his last appearance, told BBC Today at the Test: “It’s been a crazy six months and to start the summer like that and make a century at Lord’s was something I dreamt of as a kid.

  “Even 12 months ago I thought I’d never play Test cricket for England again.

  “With other captains I probably wouldn’t have, but Stokesy and Baz (Brendon McCullum) wanted me to open the batting and play the way I’ve played throughout my career and a lot of thanks to them.”

  Ireland face an uphill battle to take only their seventh Test into a fourth day and batting coach Gary Wilson was unsure if opener James McCollum would bat again after he twisted his ankle and retired hurt on Friday evening.

  Wilson said: “He has gone to hospital for scans and we don’t have a further update.

  “I went to see him in the ambulance and he was very keen to go on, felt like he was in good touch, so he’s very disappointed, but he might be back tomorrow. We don’t know yet.”

• Ben Duckett leads the way with record hundred as England turn screw on Ireland

  Ben Duckett marked his first Test innings on home soil with a chanceless and record-breaking 150 to help England reach lunch on day two on 325 for one with total control of the one-off Test with Ireland.

  Duckett had closed the opening day on 60 not out but raced through to his milestone with a succession of drives to bring up his second red-ball century for his country from 106 deliveries.

  In his 10th Test since his debut in Bangladesh in 2016, opener Duckett showed why he is the perfect fit for Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ aggressive ‘Bazball’ style to reach his 150 off the same amount of balls and in the process beat Australian great Don Bradman’s record for the quickest 150 at Lord’s.

  Duckett walked off at lunch unbeaten on 161 with a strike rate of 100.62 alongside Ollie Pope, who had not been at his fluent best but played his part with 97 not out in an unbroken 216-run partnership for the second wicket and will eye his own place on the Lord’s honours board in the afternoon session.

  Day one of this Ashes summer started “almost perfectly” in the words of Stuart Broad, whose five-wicket haul helped bowl Ireland out quickly after tea and saw England almost into a lead by the close.

  England barely needed 15 minutes to move beyond the tourists’ total on the second day with Duckett, who had been watchful following Zak Crawley’s dismissal on Thursday night, again in fine touch.

  Duckett cut the first ball of the day to the boundary and a drive straight down the ground off Graham Hume nudged England into a lead after 29.2 overs, 27 fewer than it had taken red-ball novices Ireland to reach 172.

  Another drive saw Duckett move into the eighties and within sight of a second century at Lord’s this season after he hit 177 here for Nottinghamshire in April.

  With Mark Adair struggling with his line and length, Duckett raced onto 99 with a cover drive and flick off his pads down to the fine leg boundary in a 35th over that brought up the hundred partnership with Pope.

  The next over produced further milestones with Duckett able to celebrate three figures after he nudged into the leg side for a single to short midwicket.

  Duckett held his arms aloft after he made it to a hundred from 106 deliveries, having hit 14 boundaries in a chanceless innings where the only hint of danger occurred when he raced down the wicket for a quick single before he equally rapidly turned back off Adair’s second over of the day.

  With Duckett’s name on the Lord’s honours board, Pope set about joining him and reached fifty in the same over.

  Pope had looked at his effortless best at the end of day one, hitting five fours to close on 29 not out off 35 balls, but was more frenetic during the first hour with the occasional play and miss married with the odd boundary down to third man that did not always look completely controlled.

  Despite that, England were still rattling along at more than six runs an over with Ireland lacking the X-factor of rested seamer Josh Little following his Indian Premier League exploits.

  Off-spinner Andrew McBrine and debutant Fionn Hand were tasked with stemming the flow of runs after the drinks break and while they momentarily did, Pope survived a review for lbw to close in on his own century.

  The session belonged to Duckett though, who started to bring out the sweep shot and two off Hand helped him beat Bradman’s previous record of 150 off 163 deliveries during the 1930 Ashes.

• Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne ‘as hungry as ever’ to score runs

  Marnus Labuschagne is hungry to score runs ahead of Australia’s World Test Championship final against India and this summer’s Ashes series.

  Australia’s packed summer schedule begins next week against India before they face England in a bid to retain the Ashes.

  And Labuschagne admitted he is mentally ready for the upcoming challenges, having become a mainstay at number three in Australia’s batting line-up.

  “Mentally, I am as hungry as ever to score runs and I want us to win the series,” Labuschagne said.
  
  “I’m a more consistent player in the side so in terms of the feeling it’s more about preparation where in 2019 I felt like I had to prove to people that I was good enough.”
  
  Labuschagne looked back at Australia’s 4-0 series win over England in 2022 and called for a similar outcome when the sides renew their rivalry later this month.
  
  And the Glamorgan player shed light on how his side will prepare in the days and weeks ahead, with a short turnaround between games against India and England. 
  
  He added: “I’m not going to get into a verbal battle but it’s a series and Australia dominated that series (4-0 in 2022) and that’s about as much said and our job is to perform no matter of the circumstances and we did that, so hopefully we can continue to do that this series.
  
  “We’ve played a lot of their (India’s) main seamers two months ago so in terms of seeing them and knowing their actions, we’re pretty clear on that. 
  
  “The reality is that I’ve played against (England’s) Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue and Matt Potts this year, I’ve played against all those guys, I know what they bowl so it’s just about preparing well and understanding what they’re going to do.

  “Jimmy (Anderson), Broady (Stuart Broad) and Ollie Rob (Robinson) are probably going to come in but it’s a matter of mentally preparing for each one, there’s similarities between each bowler even though they play for different teams.”

  England will be without key bowler Jofra Archer who has been ruled out of the Ashes with an elbow injury.

  Labuschagne talked up the fast bowler and admitted England are at a disadvantage without him.

  “I always want to play against the best players,” Labuschagne said. “Any England team that doesn’t have Archer in it isn’t as strong so that’s always a benefit from a playing-against perspective. You always want to see the best players on the park and that’s what is good for Test cricket.”