Who is England's new Test player Ollie Pope?
England are set to include Ollie Pope in playing XI for the 2nd Test match, at Lord's, against India. This comes after the hosts dropped Dawid Malan, who struggled for runs in the first Test at Edgbaston. Uncapped Pope would become the 3rd player to be handed an England debut in recent times following Sam Curran and Dominic Bess. Let's know more about Pope.
Pope started playing for Surrey last July
Pope made his debut in First Class cricket for Surrey, last year, in July. Since then, Pope has gone on to hit 684 runs in Division One of County Cricket, averaging a stellar 85.50. Prior to that, the Surrey batsman was playing school cricket for Cranleigh. Three hundreds for Surrey, this summer, has helped them be on top of the table.
Pope is a handy middle-order batsman
Pope is generally a lower middle-order batsman and played at number 6 for Surrey. He is expected to bat at the same position, which could see Jos Buttler moving up. He also hit a 50 for England Lions against India A after batting at number 5. National selector Ed Smith is in awe of the youngster and feels Pope is cut above the rest.
Pope a proven First-class cricketer at just 20
Pope has played 14 First Class games for Surrey and has struck four tons including a 158* against Yorkshire. Interestingly, Joe Root captained Yorkshire in that match. He also played for Surrey in the One-Day Cup in 2016 and scored 20. The 20-year-old will hope to follow Curran's footsteps. Thursday will most likely see Pope make his debut.
