Pope is divine for Australia
AUSTRALIA are praying Lloyd Pope can be their Ashes bolter next summer after writing his name in the history books.
Pope, 18, became the youngest bowler to take seven wickets in their Sheffield Shield first-class competition when he claimed 7-87 in only his second match.
And if the leg-spinner, who is gaining Shane Warne comparisons by the truckload, makes it over to the UK in 2019, it could be the most divine Ashes series ever with Surrey’s Ollie Pope ready and waiting.
Earlier this year, the Aussie Pope caused a stir, taking eight wickets against England in the quarter-finals of the Under-19 World Cup to launch his career. Now he is doing the business for South Australia and even Warne himself was impressed with his seven-wicket haul against Queensland, saying “the sky’s the limit for him” in his book tour around Australia. When told he had broken Doug Walters’ record Pope’s said simply: “I wasn’t aware of that. I don’t really follow those statistics like that. It’s pretty good, I guess.” ENGLAND have called up Surrey keeper Ben Foakes as Test cover for Jonny Bairstow as he recovers from an ankle ligament injury. KYLE EDMUND’S winning run came to an end with defeat by Fernando Verdasco in the second round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The British No1 arrived fresh from claiming his first ATP Tour title in Antwerp and beat Diego Schwartzman in the first round, but Verdasco proved stronger, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Edmund heads to Paris for the final Masters event, needing victory to give himself a chance of qualifying for the ATP Finals in London.