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.”

England are on the verge of a first victory of the summer after record-breaking innings by Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett almost saw Ireland defeated inside two days at Lord’s.

Duckett did the early damage and showed exactly why he is perfect for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ style with a century on his maiden Test appearance on home soil.

The Nottinghamshire opener made it 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 was ended on 182 that came at a strike rate of 102.84.

Duckett had shared a 252-run partnership for the second wicket with Pope, who was not at his fluent best initially but freed up after reaching his fourth hundred and subsequently registered the quickest Test double-century in England.

When Pope was stumped after crashing 22 fours and three maximums in his 205 innings from 208 balls, Stokes declared on 524 for four with Ireland needing 352 to make England bat again but more pressingly required to bat through the evening session to force a third day of this one-off Test.

Three wickets for debutant Josh Tongue in a terrific spell threatened the possibility England could wrap up victory inside two days but Harry Tector stood firm to guide Ireland to the close on 97 for three, although opener James McCollum is unlikely to bat again after he retired hurt.

Stokes’ bold declaration was in keeping with England’s desire to go against convention but it does mean himself, Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow are all short of time at the crease ahead of the Ashes opener on June 16.

Pat Cummins and co will not be as generous at Edgbaston as red-ball novices Ireland have been this week in only their seventh Test, but the emergence of Tongue makes this a worthwhile exercise.

The debutant pinned Peter Moor in front for 11 and bounced out Paul Stirling for 15 during an excellent eight-over spell of three for 27.

Duckett wasted little time moving England ahead of Ireland’s 172 total at the start of day two with a four off his first ball before he raced onto 99 with a cover drive and flick off his pads down to the fine leg boundary in a 35th over that also brought up the hundred partnership between Pope.

The next over produced further milestones with the Nottinghamshire opener able to celebrate a second century for England 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 following a chanceless innings in his 10th Test, but first on home soil.

Pope had been 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.

England’s number three also survived a review for an lbw against debutant Fionn Hand before lunch to walk off three short of a century, but the session belonged to Duckett, who swept his way into the history books.

Two off Hand ensured Duckett reached 150 off the same amount of balls to set a new quickest 150 in Test cricket at Lord’s, beating Bradman’s previous record off 163 deliveries during the 1930 Ashes.

Duckett picked up where he left off after lunch and crunched 14 from one Andy McBrine over with a slog sweep for the first maximum of the Test and a reverse sweep for four.

Another drive to the boundary saw Duckett move on to 182 and bring up the 250-run partnership but he edged onto his stumps later in the over off Graham Hume.

Pope now picked up the baton. He reached three figures for a fourth time in Test cricket with a single in the second over of the afternoon session – and it settled him down.

A pull and cut away to the boundary was followed by a reverse paddle scoop before Pope hit the first maximums straight over McBrine’s head.

Another drive for four saw Pope celebrate his 150 off 166 balls during a hundred partnership with Joe Root, who made 56 and went beyond 11,000 Test runs but struggled with his timing in a scratchy innings of 59 deliveries.

Pope hit exactly 100 runs in the afternoon session to walk off three short of 200, but he got there when he skipped down the wicket to hit McBrine for six after tea before Stokes’ trademark bold declaration almost forced an early finish.

West Indies pacer Kemar Roach took four wickets in the match to help Surrey defeat Hampshire by nine wickets at the Kennington Oval in London from April 13-16 for their first win of the 2023 County Championship Division One season.

In Hampshire’s first innings, Roach bowled 16 overs and took 2-63 as they were bowled out for 254 in 79.3 overs. Wicketkeeper batsmen Ben Brown led the way with the bat for Hampshire with 95 and Keith Barker made 58. 20-year-old medium pacer Tom Lawes also bowled 16 overs for Surrey, taking 4-58.

England Test batsmen Ollie Pope then made 91 and Australian Sean Abbott contributed 52 as Surrey made 270 off 85.5 overs in their first innings.

Pakistani pacer Mohammad Abbas starred for Hampshire with 6-64 off 27.5 overs while medium pacers Kyle Abbott and James Fuller took a pair of wickets, each.

Hampshire’s second innings almost mirrored their first, being bowled out for 258 in 88 overs this time.

Nick Gubbins made a patient 199-ball 84 and Ian Holland scored 46 as Australian Daniel Worrall took 5-40 off 17 overs. Roach bowled 18 overs and ended with 2-43.

Needing 243 to win, Surrey’s successful chase was led by a brilliant 122* from Pope, his 17^th first class hundred, and 79* from Dominic Sibley.

In the end, Surrey needed 55.2 overs to reach 247-1.

An excellent all-round display from Trinidadian Sunil Narine propelled Surrey to a seven-wicket win over Middlesex in their Vitality Blast South Group fixture at the Oval on Friday.

Surrey won the toss and elected to field first, restricting Middlesex to 155-8 off their 20 overs.

Luke Hollman (31), captain Stephen Eskinazi (25), and wicketkeeper/batsman John Simpson (25) were the chief scorers against Narine (2-27 off four overs) and Barbados-born England all-rounder Chris Jordan (2-27 off four overs).

Narine then top-scored with 51 not out off just 29 balls, including two fours and four sixes, while engaging in a match-winning 73-run fourth-wicket partnership with England test batsman Ollie Pope (37 not out).

Opener Will Jacks earlier smashed a 20-ball 43 for Surrey who easily reached 158-3 off just 15.1 overs to secure victory.

Surrey, also the team of former West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard, now lead the South Group with 15 points from eight games after seven wins and one no result.

Kemar Roach took career-best figures of 8-40 and 10 wickets in the match as Surrey defeated Hampshire by an innings and 289 runs in their English County Cricket match that ended on Friday.

Roach began the match taking 2-40 in Hampshire’s first innings of 92 all out. However, it was Jordan Clarke who did the bulk of the damage taking 6-21. Lewis McManus top-scored with 31 for Hampshire in their innings that lasted just 34.3 overs.

The situation would only become even direr for Hampshire as 215 from Hashim Amla, 131 from Ollie Pope 131 and knocks of 80 and 78 from Jamie Smith and Roy Burns, respectively, propelled Surrey to 560 for 7 declared.

Roach then moved in for the kill.

Getting prodigious swing both ways, the Barbadian took three in eight balls towards the end of his first spell, two in seven in his second, and three in 13 in his third as Hampshire folded for 179 in their second turn at-bat. 

“It was going conventionally, not reversing," Roach said.

"The way I gripped the ball was a little looser today. It was overcast conditions so the ball was going to do something once you put it in the right areas and stayed strong at the crease. The guys worked incredibly well on the ball and the information I got on the field about different batsmen and their weaknesses worked fantastically."

Once again, McManus was Hampshire’s top scorer with 51.

Roach’s 10-80 was also a career-best for the veteran West Indies pace bowler.