‘Next Shane Warne’ turns up with 8/35
New pontiff of legspin, Pope may be saviour for Aussies and answer to their prayers at top level in future
The Under-19 Cricket World Cup burst to life in Queenstown yesterday when Aussie legspinner Lloyd Pope drew comparisons to Shane Warne after taking eight wickets in Australia’s remarkable win over England in the first quarter-final.
There were shades of Warne’s match-winning heroics in the 1999 World Cup semifinal in Pope’s performance, only he took twice as many wickets, claiming eight for 35 as Australia defended a paltry 127 to win by 31 runs. Warne took 4 for 29 against South Africa at Edgbaston.
“You always have to have a belief to win the game,” Pope said afterwards. “All the boys have worked so hard and we never gave up and that shows the true spirit. The pitch was turning a bit so it helped me.”
The 18-year-old turned the match with two wickets in back-to-back deliveries in the eighth over.
He had Liam Banks stumped before bowling Harry Brook for a golden duck with a perfectlypitched wrong-un to leave England 47 for two.
He took the first five wickets of the innings in 32 balls to have England reeling. He then returned to clean up the tail with another three scalps in his final 15 balls to keep his country’s World Cup ambitions alive.
Warne is familiar with Pope, who has a rookie contract with South Australia, after bowling with him in Adelaide. He was impressed then and beamed when told of the young leggie’s eight-wicket blitz. “I had a bowl with him in Adelaide two years ago. He gives it a rip and looks a real talent,” Warne said. Pope said he had never paid attention to comparisons, especially not with Warne. His immediate ambitions don’t extend beyond the World Cup campaign but Pope knows he is a long way off the finished product he needs to be if he wants to follow in Warne’s footsteps. “I tend to not think about the future too heavily, I like to stay in the moment and the World Cup is the main priority at the moment,” Pope said. “When I get back [ to Australia], I would like to focus a bit more on red ball cricket.
“I’ve been playing a lot of white ball cricket . . . I want to go back to long form cricket, bowling a lot of leg breaks, a lot of overs.
“I always have high expectations of myself, I always try and take wickets. But I’ve definitely still got work to do. My fielding and my batting have to improve.
“It’s nice to get a reward . . . but I’ve got to drive to keep taking wickets in the World Cup and hopefully we can take the trophy home.”
New Zealand’s quarter-final against Afghanistan is tomorrow at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, where South Africa and Pakistan meet today.
India and Bangladesh play at Queenstown on Friday.