Pope cements the number 3 spot. For now at least, as elegant and classy century buys him the English summer for time.
Pope cements the number 3 spot for himself, with no question of the significance this innings had for his England career.
Eight Test hundreds have been celebrated by Ollie Pope, but never with such zeal. After inside-edging Jasprit Bumrah to the leg side and yelling “come on!” with his hands clenched, Pope scrambled through for a single before punching the air with a welterweight boxer’s jab. The importance of this innings on his England career was undeniable.
Pope proved his mettle in the marquee Test series, which demands substance over style. Despite two major let-offs, this was a timely hundred under extreme pressure.
The media’s “outside noise” is something that athletes attempt to ignore, but only deafness could have prevented Pope’s scrutiny. Jacob Bethell’s rise to prominence put real pressure on his spot as number three, and his unusually light schedule—which included no Test matches for five months at the beginning of this year—left him unable to address rumours.
Pope had only twice passed 50 in his previous 35 innings against India and Australia, so his 196 in Hyderabad seemed like a bizarre aberration. England is now beginning a historic ten-Test stretch against those two nations.
Pope, who was frequently a cautious starter, showed composure while punishing width off India’s seamers by flicking his opening ball, from Mohammed Siraj, off his pads for four.
Due to Headingley’s steep bounce and a few lucky breaks, including a Bumrah misfield at deep point and two chancy steers through holes in the slip cordon, Pope scored a lot of runs (48 of his round 100) behind square on the off side. He reached 90 thanks to his greatest shot, a well-placed pull off Prasidh Krishna over a leg gully that beat a long leg to his right.
He was also grateful for a drop and an umpiring call. It would not have been overturned if Chris Gaffaney had given out Siraj’s lbw appeal when Pope had 34. When he had 60, Yashasvi Jaiswal took him out at third slip off the unrelenting Bumrah, whose opening spells of the series were unstoppable.
However, in Pope’s larger scheme of things, those reprieves are only specifics. Pope’s reaction to hitting three figures demonstrated how much he had felt Bethell breathing down his neck, despite Stokes’ constant assurances of his position over the preceding month and Duckett’s insistence that there was never any question in the dressing room that Pope would bat at number three.
A key component of England’s batsmanship over the past three years has been manipulating opposition plans. Duckett has personified their approach, going hard against the new ball and then milking singles when captains feel compelled to react. Pope’s release shot, a dab past gully, was built on the same idea.
Pope’s current task is to support his century and refute the idea that he is a player who has to win or lose. Prior to the series, he expressed his wish to follow in Joe Root’s footsteps by scoring “hundred, hundred, hundred” and demonstrating his consistency. But although he enjoys the gratification of his most focused innings to date, such thoughts can wait until next week.
For now though, Pope cements his place, at least for the English summer.