Former England skipper Alastair Cook backed vice captain Ollie Pope to retain the No. 3 spot in the line-up ahead of Jacob Bethell against India in the upcoming 5-match Test series. Pope slammed 171 against Zimbabwe in England’s last Test match which makes him the perfect candidate, according to Root.
“Ollie Pope’s 170 meant a lot to me, he and (Zak) Crawley were under the pump and they delivered. When I left New Zealand I thought they’ll go with Jacob Bethell but if he isn’t leaving the to come and play a Test match, for whatever reason that is, it’s not a punishment, but that’s the way the cards have fallen whether it’s Bethell’s fault or not,” Cook was quoted saying in The Independent.
“If he’s that desperate to play I would have said he would have come out and played, then he’d have guaranteed his England selection. I don’t care what’s going on behind the scenes on that,” he added.
Both players are in England’s 14-man squad for the series-opening first Test at Headingley from Friday. While Pope brings experience with 56 Tests under his belt and eight centuries, Bethell averages 52.00 from just six Test innings, including a career best 96 against New Zealand last December.
“Will Pope play at number three in Perth? He’s in possession at the minute and we’ll find out if he’s good enough against the likes of ,” the 40-year-old said.
“The issue I’ve always said about Pope, and I don’t think this changes, is his first 20 balls, Tuffers (Phil Tufnell) is more likely to get through his first 20 balls. Lots of judges of players have said that Bethell is really good, but at Warwickshire he struggled like a year ago, he struggled and was batting six behind (Sam) Hain, (Alex) Davies and guys that were picked ahead of him all the time,” he added.
(With agency inputs)
