Pope walked in at No.5 after West Indies captain Jason Holder asked England to bat in the third Test of the series, and finished the day unbeaten on 91, along with Jos Buttler, who was on 56* off 120.

The 136-run partnership helped England reach 258-4 by stumps, and take the upper hand going into the second day. The 22-year-old Pope, especially, received widespread praise, with Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, even labelling him the best young England player since Joe Root on BBC.

50 for Ollie Pope!

His first home Test half-century 👏👏#ENGvWI pic.twitter.com/ERCmle6AWo

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 24, 2020

Hussain, writing in his column for the Daily Mail, pointed out that there are similarities between Pope and Bell, “who drove elegantly and had the same lovely back-cut that Pope seems to enjoy”, but there was also a slight difference in their techniques.

“People have made the comparison already with Ian Bell,” Hussain wrote, “another England stylist who drove elegantly and had the same lovely back-cut that Pope seems to enjoy. I know what they mean, but there is a slight technical difference.

“Whereas Bell’s hands were close together and therefore worked in sync, Pope has a very modern split grip: the hands are further apart, and so they can work against each other when he goes on the drive.

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“What that means in practice is that sometimes Pope can hit the ball in the air when he’s driving on the up outside off stump. It’s what India preyed on a bit in 2018, and he also got out that way in New Zealand before Christmas. On bouncier pitches in a country like Australia, he’ll have to be careful.

“But these are nitpicks – because that shot is also a strength, as we saw when West Indies offered him too much width. He took advantage superbly, and ran them ragged.”