Pope, 18, hailed as new Warne

A RECORD-BREAKING eight-wicket spell by Lloyd Pope at the U19 World Cup yesterday has left the leg- spinner on top of the world as the feat sparks comparisons with the legendary Shane Warne.

Pope took eight for 35 against England to spin Australia into the semifinals and set a new benchmark at the youth tournament, under way in New Zealand.

“I always love playing for my country, whether I’m taking wickets or not, so going out there and doing it with some really good mates is an awesome experience,” a beaming Pope, 18, said.

“I was on top of the world really today. To win a quarterfinal is awesome.”

He came into the attack with England cruising at 47 without loss as they chased Australia’s modest total of 127.

But, just as Warne did on numerous occasions, Pope soaked up the pressure and bamboozled England’s batsmen to have them all out for 96.

Asked about his lethal googly, he said: “I’ve always loved to bowl wrong ’uns from an early age. “It’s a big part of my game.” Aussie media, still smarting from the senior team’s ODI series loss to England, seized upon the red-headed tyro’s heroics in Queenstown.

“The new Shane Warne has arrived,” Pope’s home-town paper the Adelaide Advertiser trumpeted on its website.

Cricket Australia’s website likened his influence to Warne’s in the 1999 World Cup, when he took four for 29 against South Africa.

Even the game’s governing body, the ICC, could not resist the comparison, saying: “This could justifiably be called a Warne-esque spell.

“This has a claim to being Australia’s most explosive scene-bursting moment since Shane lobbed one up to Mike Gatting in 1993,” It said

Warne, the “sheikh of tweak”, remains among test cricket’s greatest wicket-takers, with 708 scalps over a stellar 15- year career.

His gravity-defying delivery to Gatting announced his arrival on the world stage and has been called “the ball of the century”.

Warne tweeted: “This is terrific & brings a huge smile to my face.” – AFP