Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Ollie Pope He believes he is more prepared than ever for the hostilities of the Ashes series after fighting hard for himself England Position for last year.
Jacob Bethel’s Surprising Emergence Last Winter new zealand This visit increased anger at the Pope and since then he has faced constant scrutiny.
century against zimbabwe and India He was trying to cement his place in his first two innings of the summer, but low returns in the following months and the decision to remove Pope as vice-captain in September kept the debate largely alive.
Pope finally settled the matter with confident innings of 100 and 90 in the three-day warm-up against England Lions and is almost certain to face the Australians at Optus Stadium in Perth this Friday.
The seriousness of the occasion cannot be underestimated, but he feels that the kind of constant speculation being placed on him will prove to be beneficial to him.
“It was good for me that I learned that I am capable of performing well even under the most pressure,” he said.
“I know I can deal with it and sometimes give my best. Everyone wants the first name on the team sheet, that’s quite obvious, but at the same time we are playing international games.
“I sometimes have to remind myself that if you don’t score as many runs as you want to, there will always be someone on your heels.
“I’ve gotten used to those conversations and seeing them. I don’t go looking for them, but sometimes it’s very hard to avoid. I’m learning to live with it and do my best. I’ll try to use the pressures I’m facing and make sure I get the best out of myself.”
Pope captained his country five times during his tenure as Ben Stokes’ deputy, but has now been replaced by white-ball captain Harry Brook.
Reflecting on the decision, which was announced alongside the Ashes squad, he said: “If they feel it’s the right thing for the team moving forward with Brookie captaining the ODI and T20 side, then that’s absolutely fine with me and I respect the decision they’ve made.
“I’ve played 61 Tests so far… I’ve got that in the bank. There are some guys coming in and experiencing places like Australia for the first time and my senior position in the team is about leaning on those guys and helping them because I’ve experienced it and I know what an Ashes tour can be like.”
The next few weeks could prove crucial for the 27-year-old, whose career average of 35.36 points to a talent that has not been fully recognised. That number dropped worryingly to 15.70 against Australia and four years ago he had scored only 67 runs in six innings.
- 1st Test, Perth: 21-25 November
- Second Test, Brisbane: 4-8 December
- Third Test, Adelaide: 17-21 December
- Fourth Test, Melbourne: 26-30 December
- 5th Test, Sydney: 4-8 January
They have got better returns since being encouraged under the leadership of Stokes and the head coach Brendon McCullumUnder which he has scored eight out of his nine Test centuries.
“I was dropped very early in the last series and rightly so at the time,” he recalled.
“I wasn’t as clear on how I wanted to play. I didn’t know my game well and I didn’t know the conditions as well as I thought I would have known them. I think I probably learned how to bat a little bit more on these pitches.
“Getting a little older and getting used to playing these big series and games helps. For me, I’ve got complete clarity on how I want to bat on each of these pitches.”