Ollie Pope
Former captain Andrew Strauss has heaped praise on Ollie Pope, saying the young batter is a real find for England.
Pope rescued England on the first day of the ongoing third and final Test between England and West Indies at the Old Trafford.
Put into bat, England at one stage seemed to be struggling after losing four wickets for 122. However, it was then that Pope along with Jos Buttler stitched an unbeaten 136-run stand to not only take the hosts out of troubled waters but also put them in a commanding position at the end of the day's play on Friday.
At Stumps on Day One, England were 258/4 with Pope and Buttler at the crease on 91* and 56* respectively.
"If you look at his first-class record, he's averaging 57 and he's proved that he can do it in Test cricket with that great innings he played in South Africa," Strauss was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
"Today was more of the same. He's a guy who can score quickly without you really noticing it. He played some really eye-catching shots as well and he looks equally comfortable against seam and spin, so no obvious weaknesses there. He's a real find for England, I think."
Strauss added that the 22-year old Surrey batsman has a technique to succeed in all formats.
"He's got the game to play in ODIs, in various different positions.," he said. "We know he can play all those funky ramp shots and whatever.
"But for the time being I'd quite like him just doing his time in the Test team, not getting funky with his technique which is perfect.
"He can really establish himself in that England environment. It's a different thing when you feel comfortable, when you know you are good enough to be in that environment and you get to know the players well.
"When you get to that stage, that's when you start getting some really consistent, high-quality performances."
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar said earlier the batting style of Pope and Ian Bell are quite similar.
"Been watching the 3rd Test, Ollie Pope seems to have modeled his batting on Ian Bell. His stance and footwork looks exactly the same to me," Tendulkar said in a tweet.
Bell featured in 118 Tests for England and scored 7,727 runs including 22 centuries. He is also among three Englishmen who were part of three Ashes winning teams. Bell also featured in 161 ODIs before calling time on his career in the fifty-over format in 2015.
