The only way Ollie Pope could silence his doubters was to score runs against a top bowling attack. Well, that is exactly what he did yesterday at Headingley.
Pope’s situation against Zimbabwe earlier this month was almost a no-win. If he had not scored runs, Jacob Bethell would have replaced him at No3 against India. And even when he went on to smash 171 at Trent Bridge, people still said, ‘It’s only Zimbabwe, it doesn’t mean anything’.
So to go out and get a century against India and the world’s No1 bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, people can no longer say, ‘Well, who have you done it against?’
When he came to the crease yesterday, the lights were on and there was heavy cloud cover. Bumrah had just dismissed Zak Crawley and was getting it to move round corners.
This is the same bowler, remember, who uprooted two of Pope’s stumps with an inswinging yorker when they met in Visakhapatnam last year.
Pope oftens looks frenetic and jumpy at the crease. Sometimes he must make the dressing room feel a bit uncomfortable and make them think, ‘Crikey, it must be doing a lot out there’.
The only way Pope could silence his doubters was to score runs against a top bowling attack
‘Yesterday I thought Pope looked calm. His mannerisms were spot on,’ writes Nasser Hussain
To get a century against world No1 bowler, Jasprit Bumrah will silence any Ollie Pope doubters
But yesterday I thought he looked calm. His mannerisms were spot on. What he managed to do was make his team-mates think, ‘Yes, we can score runs out there, it’s not doing that much’.
Whatever you say about that Test against Zimbabwe, getting runs early in the summer for England gives you huge confidence – and he has clearly carried that into Headingley.
I particularly liked the tempo of his innings. Under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the message has been, ‘If we lose an early wicket, don’t go into your shell’. Against great bowlers, if you go into your shell, they will eventually find a way of getting you out.
But Pope and Ben Duckett’s tempo together was perfect – keep out the good ones, then put the bowler back under pressure if they are slightly off. Suddenly, four slips goes down to two and, after just half-an-hour, it feels a completely different game.
The hardest thing as a captain here at Headingley, which is a high-scoring ground given the pace of the outfield, is knowing when to keep your catchers in or give your bowlers a bit of cover. Pope’s mindset and tempo put Shubman Gill under pressure.
The only thing I didn’t like about Pope’s innings was his late dab. Bumrah almost makes you do it with the angle he creates. You see the ball move away and you go with it and guide it. But it is a very dangerous shot, as we saw when Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped him in the slips off Bumrah – and as Joe Root found late in the day.
I always thought England were right to back Pope despite Jacob Bethell’s undoubted ability
England are 209-3 after the second day of the first test at Headingley, while India are 471 all out
Under Ben Stokes the message has been ‘If we lose an early wicket, don’t go into your shell’
I always thought England were right to back Pope despite Bethell’s undoubted ability. When the man in possession has got big runs in the last game, whatever doubts you may have about him, you have got to give him the first chance in the series.
All the talk and scrutiny around your place can be hard to ignore, but you have just got to try and block out the noise. Get off social media, don’t read the papers. Just focus on your game because the only way to stop that noise is to score runs.
But now he has hit a very good hundred, the last thing he should think is, ‘I’ve got a score now, that’s my place secure’, because that’s what leads to inconsistency.
Jack Russell used to talk about playing every Test as if it’s your last. That goes slightly against this England team’s mindset, but if Pope wants to be consistent, he must not take anything for granted.
