Ollie pope

Ollie Pope Exudes Confidence, Ready for Ashes Captaincy Challenge if Needed Ollie Pope (L) and Ben Stokes (R). (AP Photo) England's vice-captain Ollie Pope is self-assured about stepping into the role of Test captain in the Ashes series if Ben Stokes is unable to play. While acknowledging Stokes' determination to be present on the field, Pope expressed confidence in his ability to execute the same strategies and ideas as his captain. He believes that if the need arises, he can effectively fill Stokes' shoes and lead the team. After impressing as deputy during the winter matches, Stokes recently expressed his faith in the decision, pointing to Pope's exceptional achievement of scoring a double-hundred in his debut as vice-captain during the match against Ireland at Lord's last week. "Fingers crossed Stokesy's (Ben Stokes) body's all good. It's going to take a hell of a lot for him not to be on the pitch even for a day's play, knowing what he's like. But if it did happen, I feel confident. We've played a lot together as a team over the last year and a bit, and he knows a lot how he wants the bowlers to operate, the kind of fields he sets, and tries to get players to hit balls in areas that they don't normally want to hit [them] in. So I've got a pretty good understanding of how he runs things now and, if needs be, can implement the same ideas," Ollie Pope as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. Pope's confidence in assuming the Test captaincy in the absence of Ben Stokes underscores his ...

Pope's hundred, along with 163 not out from Joe Root, took England to 473-5 in reply to New Zealand's 553 on day three of the second Test at Trent Bridge. "I know I've got the game and now it's just trying to be as consistent as possible," he told Test Match Special. "It was a special, amazing feeling. It hasn't been the easiest ride." Pope, 24, made his Test debut in 2018 and earned a regular spot in the England team a year later. A maiden century followed in South Africa in 2020, but a run of only one half-century in 23 innings saw him dropped after the 4-0 Ashes series defeat last winter. • Root & Pope keep England in Test He was recalled by new England Test captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum to bat at number three - a position he had not previously filled in first-class cricket - in the series against New Zealand and repaid their faith with a century in his third innings in the new role. "I've never doubted that my game is there for Test cricket," said the Surrey man. "It hasn't all been an easy ride. Places like India and Australia have provided different challenges. I've not had the numbers that I would have liked, but I've learned so much about my game and Test cricket. "Hopefully now I can make myself the cricketer that I want to be." Pope and Root added 187 for the third wicket, Root going to his 10th century since the beginning of 2021 and second in consecutive Sundays after his match-winning innings at Lord's last week. "We're seeing England's greates...

England’s scoring rate of 6.33 runs per over was the second-fastest ever in a 500-plus team score. The record? England’s 6.50 runs per over when they racked up 657 against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in December last year. Those are the only two instances of a team scoring more than 500 runs at quicker than a run a ball. In fact, no other team has come close with third place being Sri Lanka’s 5.36 runs per over against Bangladesh in 2001. Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett were the chief architects of Ireland’s demise with both players scoring 100 runs in a single session, with Duckett doing so in the morning and Pope following suit in the afternoon. Duckett’s hundred was his second for England coming off 106 deliveries, one fewer than he achieved to reach the landmark in Rawalpindi last year. Duckett eventually fell for 182 but not before he broke Donald Bradman’s 93-year-0ld record for the fastest Test 150 at Lord’s. He reached the landmark off 150 deliveries; later in the day, Pope reached 150 off 166 balls just as Bradman did in 1930. Pope’s first Test double hundred was the fastest ever scored in England and the second-fastest ever by an English batter following Stokes’ 163-ball double ton at Cape Town in 2016. That wasn’t the only feat from the 2016 Cape Town that stood in England’s way of securing a world record. Pope and Duckett’s stand was the second fastest 250-plus partnership in Test history, coming in behind Stokes and Bairstow’s mammoth partnership against South Africa in...

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This was the fastest double century by any batter on English soil. The record previously belonged to Ian Botham who scored the double ton in 220 balls against India at the Oval. Pope achieved the milestone in 207 deliveries. And Duckett, by making a run-a ball 150, surpassed Australia great Both Duckett and Pope topped Ireland's first-innings 172 by themselves. But an Ireland side in just their seventh Test and still searching for a first win at this level, lacked the pace and guile to trouble well-set batsmen on a good pitch, with seamers Duckett was then 60 not out, with England vice-captain Pope unbeaten on 29. It wasn't long before England overhauled Ireland's total and a morning run spree where they didn't lose a wicket took them to 325-1 at kunch. Duckett then slog-swept off-spinner McBrine for the first six of the match to go to 176 as he surpassed Ireland's total by himself. The 28-year-old was approaching what would have been one of Test cricket's quickest double-centuries when a replacement ball did the trick for Ireland, with Duckett playing onto medium-pacer Graham Hume. His runs had come off just 178 balls, including 24 fours and a six, with Duckett walking off to a standing ovation from a sun-drenched crowd at the 'Home of Cricket'. There was no respite for Ireland, with star batsman Root unfurling a wide array of strokes in what, at times, looked more like a net session than a Test match. Both Pope and Root lofted McBrine for sixes in the same over. And the ...