GB are rocked by doubles trouble
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from the illness that kept him out of the first Test to hit an unbeaten 56. “I’m sure that Stokesy will be pretty frustrated as well.”
Stokes, left, was among five batsmen who made a decent start but failed to kick on as England, 1-0 down in the four-Test series, blew their chances of building a formidable total.
“He was playing the aggressor role,” added Pope. “I was just getting into my innings and finding my way, so it was a shame.
“He’ll be as annoyed as anyone, I’m sure. But these things happen. Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes we made today.”
GREAT BRITAIN began the inaugural ATP Cup with an agonising 2-1 defeat by Bulgaria.
Doubles pair Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury needed to win their match against Grigor Dimitrov and Alexandar Lazarov to secure overall victory.
But after the first two sets were shared following tie-breaks, it came down to a match tie-break that the
Bulgarian pair took 11-9 in a thriller that ended at 2.47am local time in Sydney.
The match went to the final rubber after British No1 Dan Evans surrendered a one-set lead to lose 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to US Open semi-finalist Dimitrov in the second singles match.
Cameron Norrie had given GB – led by
ENGLAND had Ollie Pope to thank for raising their innings above the level of mediocrity that has become the hallmark of their Test team.
Pope’s unbeaten 56 put a late evening sheen on a day that had got darker as it wore on.
James Anderson also hung around long enough for the 22-year-old Surrey batsman – back after missing the first Test through illness – to lift his side to 262-9, but too many batsmen failed to show similar application.
Joe Root’s team might feel like the world is conspiring against them on this tour. They are, though, contributing far too much to their own downfall. In captain Tim Henman – the perfect start by overcoming Dimitar Kuzmanov 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
But after losing their past two matches, a Britain team missing the injured Andy Murray need to beat Group C rivals Belgium tomorrow to stand any chance of avoiding an early exit from the new 24-nation tournament.
Belgium eased to a 3-0 win over Moldova, who the long list of disappointing batting performances under Root’s leadership, this one is not even close to being the worst, but it is significant nonetheless.
This was a batting display that absolutely tells you where England are as a Test side – not very good.
There is some ability, for sure. For a time Root, Ben Stokes and Joe Denly all looked reasonably comfortable.
But, just when you expected them to kick on and make their initial hard work count for something substantial, it was received an apology after the wrong anthem was played before their tie.
Hosts Australia started with a 3-0 whitewash of Germany. Canada won the other Group G encounter at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane by beating Greece 3-0.
In the Group D matches played in Perth, the United States were beaten 2-1 by Norway, while Russia defeated Italy 3-0.