Why mystery man Pope could provide answer to England’s prayers

LESS than four months into his job as England’s national selector, Ed Smith has already forged a reputation for being bold. Now he looks set to roll the dice once more by selecting 20-year-old Surrey batsman Ollie Pope for this week’s second Test against India.

Since being appointed in April, Smith has got every major decision right, starting with his left-field pick of Jos Buttler for the first series of the summer against Pakistan and, most recently, the controversial selection of another white-ball specialist in Adil Rashid for the opening Test against India at Edgbaston.

However, the biggest trait of Smith’s tenure so far has been his willingness to trust in youth. The 21-year-old Somerset spinner Dom Bess had an encouraging series against Pakistan.

But the remarkable entrance to international cricket of Sam Curran has been the biggest selection triumph of the summer so far. And the 20-year-old Surrey all-rounder’s man-of-thematch performance against India at Edgbaston is likely to embolden Smith further and tip him towards picking Curran’s contemporary at The Oval in Pope for the second Test at Lord’s.

Smith will have to come to a consensus first with England captain Joe Root and coach Trevor Bayliss when they meet this morning to finalise their squad for that match.

The biggest issue will be who will fill the gap left by the absence of Ben Stokes, whose trial in Bristol on a charge of affray starts tomorrow. Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes are two probable candidates to come into the squad but there is likely to be a space for another batsman if, as expected, Dawid Malan is dropped.

Malan had an encouraging Ashes series last winter in Australia. However, his form has fallen off a cliff and, barring a late reprieve, England will surely wield the axe on a batsman who is averaging 16 in Tests since Australia and who not only scored just 28 runs at Edgbaston

but almost cost England the match with his two drops of India captain Virat Kohli on the second day.

This is where Pope comes in. Not much is known about a player who only made his firstclass debut for Surrey in March last year, so much so that his profile on Cricinfo doesn’t even yet include a photo.

However, his stats this season are hard to ignore and he is understood to be the leading contender by some distance to replace Malan in England’s middle order.

Pope’s 684 County Championship runs this summer at an average of 85.50 are the reason for that and he impressed England’s Alastair Cook when the pair shared a dressing room during last month’s Lions match against India A in Worcester, where Pope scored a matchwinning unbeaten half-century on the final day.

At 20, Pope is the same age as Curran and a close friend of English cricket’s newest young star. Both have thrived in a Surrey dressing room that has included big names in former England captain Alec Stewart, director of cricket at The Oval, Australia batsman Aaron Finch and former South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel.

Speaking this week, Pope revealed: ‘I pick their brains. Cook is one of the best players to have played in India so I asked him what his method was. You find out what you want to know. Of course, you learn by watching, and how they go about practice but you have to be proactive.

‘You have to ask them the questions you want the answers to. With Finch, for example, he’s one of the best power hitters there is. He reckons I need to set my stance a bit earlier to get power into my game.’

What has struck senior professionals the most about both Curran and Pope is not only their willingness to learn but also their coolness under pressure.

Curran’s temperament shone through at Edgbaston as did Pope’s when he hit a matchwinning unbeaten 158 against Yorkshire earlier this season after coming to the crease with Surrey struggling on 69 for four. Curran also took six for 54 in that County Championship match at The Oval, suggesting the pair thrive off each other’s success.

It’s a dynamic an England team without Stokes could well do with at Lord’s this week.