Features

Selecting young gun Pope wasn’t just done on a wing and a prayer

by
The Cricket Paper Team
10 August 2018

Chris Stocks reveals the special moment when Ollie Pope won over Joe Root and the England selectors

There were two critical moments during this most golden of summers for Ollie Pope where the 20- year-old Surrey batsman catapulted himself into Test contention.
Many saw Pope as a surprise pick to replace the out-of-form Dawid Malan for this week’s second Test against India at Lord’s.
But he was on the radar of two of the most important people in English cricket many weeks ago.
Joe Root, England’s Test captain, was the first of those after spotting Pope’s potential ...