Anointed one Pope ready to take the next step at Lord’s
Batsman ‘in the zone’ ahead of England bow
TWO years ago he was playing school cricket for Cranleigh. Tomorrow he could be walking out at Lord’s for England.
But nothing fazes 20-yearold Ollie Pope, who says he is already “in the zone” thanks to some visualisation techniques.
Pope has only played 15 first-class matches but his stunning form in this summer’s County Championship has catapulted him into England’s squad for the second Test against India.
The Surrey batsman, who got the nod to replace out-ofform Dawid Malan having recorded a first-class average of 85.50 so far this season, admits he has already pictured walking out at a sold-out Lord’s to face India’s bowlers to prepare himself mentally for the challenge ahead.
“I have been visualising it since I had the call really,” he said. “It’s quite a useful thing to do. I was watching a documentary called In the Zone and that was pretty useful.
“A lot of the players like to stand in the middle and imagine this bowler is running up to you and I’ll be doing the same thing tomorrow and before the game if picked.
“I think I’ve had a good season so far and from the people I’ve spoken to, they’ve given me the confidence in my own game to take the next step.
“Alastair Cook made his debut at 21. So it’s not like it hasn’t been done before. Hopefully I take my chance. I feel confident in my game and ready for the next step.”
Pope received heavyweight backing this week when India legend Sachin Tendulkar, who made his Test debut at the age of 16, applauded his call-up.
“Everyone always says if you are good enough, you are old enough,” said Pope. “It’s nice hearing those stories. Just knowing I’m not one of the first ones to play when I’m young or after not a huge amount of games. Hearing those stories are pretty inspirational. They make you realise what you can do.”
Pope’s belief he can prosper on the biggest stage was bolstered by a man-of-thematch performance from his fellow 20-year-old and Surrey team-mate Sam Curran in the first Test at Edgbaston.
The all-rounder’s five wickets and secondinnings 63 turned the game around for England, who eventually won a thriller by 31 runs.
“I’ve played with Sam since we were 14 or 15,” said Pope. “We have gone through the same path and the way he played last week gives me confidence to know I can do that too. It’s nice to do it with him.”
However, it was a spell playing grade cricket in Sydney last winter that has had the biggest effect on Pope. Indeed, so successful was his time in Australia on and off the field that local MP Chris Patterson, vice-president of the Campbelltown-Camden club Pope played for, commended him during a speech in the New South Wales Parliament. “Obviously I did the right things at the club and they enjoyed having me,” he said. “I was pretty surprised by it all. That guy’s actually been over in London and watched a T20 while he was here, but I was surprised by that as well.” Asked if his experiences in Australia saw him go away a boy and return a man, Pope says: “That’s a bit of a cliche! But massively. I had to stand on my own two feet. I did learn to fend for myself a bit more. “And in terms of my cricket I didn’t really have a coach and at times I found that a pain. “But at other times it just made me know my game a bit better and learn about myself as a person, too. So I think it was a pretty invaluable experience. “It helped me kick off the season quickly. I was game-ready from the start. I found a bit of form and my method for now. I need to just keep riding the wave.” So young is Pope that he lists Cook and England skipper Joe Root, two men he will be sharing a dressing room with at Lord’s this week, as childhood heroes. “They’ve been really welcoming,” he said. “They’ve all been that young lad making his debut so they know what it’s like.” He added: “Test cricket is the dream. It’s the pinnacle for any cricketer in the world, so to get that call was pretty special.”