Who the hell?

A promising 20-year-old wicket-keeper batsman from Chelsea, Pope has made rapid strides since signing a professional contract with Surrey back in 2016. Over the last 12 months, Pope has proven himself to be a key member of Surrey’s middle-order in all formats. It’s been in Division One of the County Championship this season where he’s made the biggest impression, averaging 85.5 from 10 innings so far, the highest average of any player with 200 runs or more in the division. His fast transition from an inventive one-day player to consistent run-scorer has made the selectors take note.

Challenges?

Despite his undoubted talent, Pope is still very inexperienced at first-class level, with only 15 matches to his name so far. It will be interesting to see how he copes with Test match cricket at such a young age, as well as if he can continue his superb form for Surrey in the County Championship. The ability and mental strength are there but proving himself against some of the world’s best bowlers will be challenging.

Final word:

“He’s got a lot of talent, that’s the obvious thing. But he’s also mentally strong and he’s also a very, very quick learner. He’s only been playing the game at this level for around 18 months, I think he’s only played 15 first-class games. He just gets better and better each game. He soaks up all the information that comes his way. For someone so young, he understands his game. Obviously, he wants to get better and will get better. He’s showed already this year and at the back end of last year that he’s a consistent run-scorer. Now he’s got to transfer those skills and those runs that he’s been scoring onto a higher level. It’s a big ask to go in at four, and I understand why they have done that but because he’s such a clever cricketer and intelligent cricketer, I expect him to stand up and say ‘listen I’m fine at number four, whether I go in at the third over or I go in when Ashwin is bowling, I’ll have a method or a game-plan to make sure I cope.’” – Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket