Ollie Pope certainly has a ‘Bell’ to him but he’s much more than just that
An uncanny comparison with Ian Bell, Ollie Pope’s career has been largely England’s biggest promise since the turn of this decade, even bigger than the moving Ben Stokes from New Zealand. He walked in when England were in shambles and walked him and them out through the limelight.
He’s 22, he is from Chelsea, London and he averages 57.14 in First-Class for Surrey- that incidentally was more than enough to put a massive tag of ‘expectations’ on Ollie Pope. When he walked out to bat for the first time in his career against India at Lord’s, the Londoner walked back for a 38-ball 28 which suggested that he set a precedent on what to expect from him. Pope was far better than the other youngsters in the country, so much so he was already hailed as a ‘Lamborghini’ in the County on the back of his gigantic season for Surrey.
The 22-year-old certainly knows how to pack a punch, more certainly knows how to draw a comparison with one of England’s Test stars, Ian Bell including his smearing sunscreen across his face. Highly underrated part of England’s Test set-up in the mid-2000s, Bell was always there when the side needed him to raise a hand, be it in South Africa against a fearsome Proteas attack or be it against a lacklustre Sri Lankan attack. Bell knew that he was never one of those who were seeking validation from the rest of the world, going about his work and things quietly.
However, he knew that sometime in the latter part of his career, everything was going to come back to him- fame, recognition and more so an element of ‘class’ attached to him. The Warwickshire run-machine has played over a decade for England yet it was always his technique which garnered him the eye-ball. Similarly, on Day 1 of the third Test, it was such a thing for Pope. The youngster could appear a slightly vulnerable figure but he certainly knows how to unfurl a massive cover-drive that could kick-start a barrage of orthodox Test-cricket stuff from his willow.
An unfancy hairstyle tucked back to the back resembled his performance in the middle, one that never caught the eye yet going about his business slowly. England have always had big names in the middle order, including Kevin Pietersen but never a monk-like figure who left behind fame to continue his education. That was Pope, devoid of all the attention, slowly and steadily went about his business and sometimes his powerful punch made everyone jump from their seats in joy. In the era of T20 cricket and the flamboyance that surrounds it, the Londoner knew how to go about his traditional style of business yet he was different.
He rebranded the way Test cricket was seen in the country whilst having the same technique as Joe Root and the same flow as Ben Stokes. As CricViz rightly pointed out, the right-hander only has an 11% false rate shot percentage which makes him stand out in world cricket. In the world dominated by some of the flashiest and soundest of batsmen, the 22-year-old combines them in a rather unique fashion with his head falling in the right place and direction like Bell.
Whilst Bell took around six years to find a way to bat long in Test cricket, reaching his maiden three-figure score, Pope has already reached the mark against a tough opponent in the form of South Africa away from home and thrown around the batting order quite a few times, varying from four to seven in England’s batting order. When England opted to go all-out attack with their bowling unit, a ray of hope was on the youngster’s shoulder.
Batting in a crunch situation, England were reduced to 92/3 when he walked out to bat and when he left, they were in a far better position at 262/5 but it wasn’t just his runs. When Pope walked into bat, there was searing pace and swing that left the English top-order in Smithereens. Their best bet Ben Stokes was out, back to the dressing room without having made any impact in the game. An intimidating Kemar Roach was standing right in front of the youngster, waiting to run through the rest of the long English tail.
With Buttler too out of form, the Yorkshire man in the dressing room had a silly hope and a smirking smile as to suggest they were about to unravel something extraordinary. That extraordinary was Pope, in the purest of senses with a potential unlike none in the country. He was bounced, sledged and thrown in the heat of some of the funniest moments on Day 1 yet he stayed unflinching, more focused on the bat to do the talking.
“It is nice to get a few (runs) and it does feel like a little bit of a weight off the shoulders,” Pope breathed a sigh of relief as the burden was obvious but the way he went about things suggested otherwise. A busy player on the pitch, he goes on about his business without the drama of celebrations or the wisest of words. Just like a monk, he attains his nirvana from all the long hours he spends at the crease. Whilst he is just 16 innings old into his Test career, his potential has already seen the heights of English media, who have put all of their fearsome eyes on the youngster just like they did to Jadon Sancho when he moved to Borussia Dortmund. Like Sancho, he has made the media realise that he has a potential, which he can not only live up to but also outlive.
As Robert Frost rightly suggested, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference”. Pope has certainly taken the road less travelled, the approach less taken in English cricket and that has made the biggest difference thus far. It is high time we take that road and seatbelt ourselves for a ride that has ‘history’ written all over it. The 22-year-old has already sealed his position in England’s history and his average stands at 43.38, with 564 runs under his kitty as he scored one century and four fifties in his two-year International career but he’s the future that England silently prayed for and can’t get better than this for them.
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