Ollie Pope was fired for eight years by Hassan of Warwickshire. Photo: Stuart Leggett.
Most batsmen in England dislike most Australian pitches. , especially the bouncy old Waka in Perth. It's more unusual for English batsmen to dislike the ground at home.
Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, couldn't handle Old Trafford and averaged nine in Test cricket there. He was not the only one who found the English court difficult to play. Sachin Tendulkar, who turned 50 this week, played five of his 200 tests at Lord's and averaged just 21 points.
It would be to England's advantage this summer if Ollie Pope befriended Edgbaston more than ever before.
In his four Test innings, on what was usually the best field, he scored 52 runs — and another cheap sack on that ground when he represented Surrey wouldn't put him in the most positive frame. ahead of the first ash test on June 16th.
At his home ground, The Oval, by contrast, Pope averages nearly 100 points in first-class cricket; and just two weeks ago he played against Hampshire like a fiery Joe Ruth, and with even more agile footwork.
He kept running down the field to a fine trio of Hampshire seamstresses and snatched the match from them with 91 and an undefeated and brilliant 100. So this time the Warwickshire keeper stood up.
At first their main bowler was not Chris Wookes, neat but not very insightful, but Chris Rushworth, their tough Durham bowler, who moved the new ball in still wet conditions but at a little over 80 miles an hour. So Michael Burgess came up with the idea to pin Pope to his crease and did it.
While in the barracks, Pope was ready to attack when Rushworth completed his initial investigation and Pakistani bowler Hassan Ali replaced him at Pavilion End. Ali may be the skinniest and shortest bowler in this competition, but he is very fast, so Burgess had to back off and Pope felt he had the right to attack. It was a fatal mistake.
Recharging bowlers at 80 miles per hour is one thing; The accusation against Ali, who is 85-plus years old and before Pope came into the limelight, was different. Moreover, Pope, having jumped a couple of steps towards the bowler, aimed not at the central gate, but at the square leg, and looked down, although he was on the field, since the ball did not fly over the stumps.
Hassan Ali wiped out England's third-place finish. Photo: Getty Images/Gareth Copley
In a match that may well affect the outcome of the championship, the circumstances were not for dashing brilliance, but for the inoculation and work of the ball square. Only two batsmen have reached the age of 50 and both have England potential.
First off was Warwickshire left-hander Dan Moseley, who was out for the 55th sleepover when his county could only add seven more runs. The second was Surrey right-hander Jamie Smith.
Musley is compact, well-rounded, even-tempered and wasn't afraid to miss the pitch to break the control of the Surrey seamers.
Smith is tall — not tall for a batsman, but for the wicket that he sometimes is — and already knows how to divide: he can be a white-ball hitter, scoring the fastest in 50-plus centuries for a century. The England Lions have just 71 balls but can also keep the ball on the ground, as he did in this mature 57 of 114 balls to give Surrey a 61 ball lead.
The first spin was seen in the last hour of the second day when Rob Yates made several breaks in the tight defensive line to silence Surrey before the second new ball. And there was no real alternative to slamming the seam at both ends if the championship was to be organized in April.
Not Buzzball, more like bowlball and blockball. Even with four England players in the top five and probably one of the future players in Smith, Surrey could only get 2.6 runs per over and Pope paid the price for his ambition.
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