Duckett’s goosebumps on Ollie Pope’s ton celebration as he praises his vice-captain’s courage under pressure at No. 3.
Duckett’s ‘goosebumps’ watching Pope celebrate crucial ton.
Even though Jacob Bethell emerged, the England team were “pretty clear” well in advance of the Headingley Test that Ollie Pope would bat at No. 3 against India. Ben Duckett, who put up 122 with Pope for the second wicket, claimed to have “goosebumps” when watching him record his ninth Test century.
Pope batted at No. 6 and took wickets during that trip, but his success at No. 3 in his debut series in New Zealand put pressure on him and prompted speculation for this summer. That only got worse when Ben Stokes unintentionally implied that Bethell, who had missed England’s victory over Zimbabwe during the IPL, would return to his team to play against India.
“There’s noise outside of a dressing room, but there’s no noise in it,” Duckett said. “We’re not having discussions in the dressing room about who’s going to play. It seemed pretty clear coming into this Test match [that] if a bloke scores 170 a few weeks ago, he is going to play this game.”
On the day of the game, Stokes stated that it would have been “remarkable” to exclude Pope following his century against Zimbabwe, citing “how well he’s handled that extra scrutiny” as evidence. Duckett credited Pope’s “courage” and the backing of the dressing room for his visceral jubilation, which demonstrated that he had felt the pressure.
“If someone needs you to get around him, we’ll do that; if someone needs to be left alone, we’ll do the same,” Duckett said. “What’s been going on through Popey’s head for the last few weeks, I don’t know. But to be told two or three days out that you’re playing is probably a good thing… The way Popey’s dealt with it has been superb and just sums up and proves why he’s England’s No. 3.”
Duckett himself scored 62 before inside-edging Jasprit Bumrah on to his stumps, and heaped praise onto India’s spearhead.
“He is the best bowler in the world,” Duckett said. “He’s extremely hard to face. He’s good in any conditions; he’s good in India on the flattest pitches ever and when he’s coming in down the hill [at Headingley] with the lights on and it’s swinging both ways.
“I feel like we minimised the damage early on. It could have been a lot worse today… He is just a world-class bowler, and you can’t let someone like him just bowl; he’s too good for that. You’ve got to still try and put him under pressure, and try to put the bad balls away.”