Rob Key insistent on no career changers at Number 3 spot with Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell in contention for the spot.
Rob Key insistent that the number 3 spot will not have effect on any career or change it.
Ahead of Friday’s first Test match against India in Leeds, Rob Key has stated that neither Jacob Bethell nor Ollie Pope’s careers would be defined by England’s impending selection call.
Pope and Bethell are in direct rivalry; one is expected to start at Headingley as England’s No. 3, while the other is probably going to be left off the roster entirely. Described as a decision on “which really good player” to select, Key, the managing director of men’s cricket for England, stated: “It’s a good position to be in.”
Pope continued his impressive record in the position, where he averages 43.06, by scoring 171 when batting at No. 3 in England’s most recent Test match against Zimbabwe. The rising star in English cricket, Bethell, 21, struck three half-centuries in the same position on the December tour to New Zealand, when Pope batted down the order and took wickets.
“I don’t see it as a problem, really,” Key told the Telegraph‘s cricket podcast. “You win either way, really. You’ve got two brilliant players that can do that role. Ollie Pope’s been fantastic in that tough spot; he played brilliantly in New Zealand… alright, he was in a different role, but we’ve got two brilliant options in those spots.
“A tough decision is when you’ve got no options, and you’ve got to just then try and find something from nowhere. That’s when I’m sort of scratching my head. This one is: ‘Which really good player are we going to pick?’ It’s a good position to be in.”