England are lucky to have a player of Ollie Pope’s versatility. Probably not since Alec Stewart have they had such a competent wicket-keeping all-rounder, who relishes batting at the top order as well.
Jonny Bairstow was a reluctant No 3 who made sure everybody knew it and could not wait to go back down the order where he had his greatest successes. Jos Buttler has only batted high up in white-ball cricket, apart from two appearances as a Test opener – once in a run chase, another to set up a declaration.
Pope is a frontline batsman who keeps in an emergency – though he has done so in more first-class matches than the tour’s intended keeper Jordan Cox. He did the job competently in Christchurch and batted with more surety at No 6, coming in to form a crucial partnership of 151 with Harry Brook. England now have Ollie Robinson on tour but Pope could well keep the gloves in Wellington this week.
He insisted after his 77 he wants to bat at No 3 long term because he sees that as his most effective role for the team. He averages 40 in that position and at the outset of this tour before Cox was ruled out with injury, England had decided that Pope was settled there. It was felt it was too late to draft in someone new to face India and Australia over the next 12 months and what’s more selectors are often loathe to admit a mistake.
But best laid plans are always a broken thumb away from being ripped up. In Christchurch, Pope’s performance in place of Cox, and Jacob Bethell’s duck-to-water approach to Test cricket, reopened the debate over the former’s optimum role in the side.
Could England have accidentally stumbled across a different job for Pope as their specialist keeper? If that is the case, who then bats No 3? How about Jamie Smith, who is a top order player for Surrey in the championship, batting at No 4 and converted to a keeper by England. Pope never batted at No 3 until he asked England for a promotion when Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum were appointed. An average of 40 is not exactly disastrous but a nervy jumpiness does not instil confidence. And his inconsistency shows no sign of relenting.
There is enough of a body of work to show he is better suited away from the top of the order. Bethell, in his first innings at No 3 as a professional cricketer, exuded more tranquillity against the new ball.
Smith has proved already he has a top order player’s temperament, making runs when England are in trouble. He has made five scores above 50, and four of those have been when England are struggling. He came in at 118 for six in Rawalpindi and smoked 89, made 95 from 196 for nine against West Indies. Against Sri Lanka last summer, he scored 111 at 125 for four, and 69 from 82 for seven. Smith at three and Pope at six, feels more likely to produce yield positive results than the other way round.
Pope, for his part, remains the last England keeper to score a hundred overseas and averages 56 when he has the gloves, compared to 32 without. It is a small sample size, he has only kept in four Tests and regards himself as just back up, but if he keeps the role for the rest of the series, despite the arrival of Robinson on tour, he could unwittingly carve out a permanent job change.
All emergency keepers look good until they drop a catch but England do not play Test cricket in Asia again until 2027, making sharp hands standing up to spinners less of an issue. Although when he kept in Pakistan two years ago he did so well that he kept a fully-fit Foakes out of the side for the second Test.
Pope has kept for most of his cricketing life. “I’m a keeper, I’ve kept since I was eight years old,” he said in 2019 when he first appeared as a locum in Hamilton, New Zealand, when Jos Buttler had a back spasm.
Keeping tidily in Christchurch gave him the confidence when he went out to bat and being an all-rounder with two ways to contribute to the team takes the pressure off. Just look at how Stokes was more like himself in the first Test because he could bowl.
After his 77, Pope said he had learnt to “shut out the noise” after a summer of debate over his role in the team, with Michael Vaughan describing him as “frantic” and “insecure”. It clearly got to Pope and possibly contributed to his struggles in Pakistan after he made a duck in his first innings on the Multan feather-bed where England scored 823.
The raked sandpits that followed made life extremely hard for a batsman out of form and Pope went on to average 11 in the series. Despite starting with 196 in Hyderabad, and adding two hundreds in the summer, Pope is averaging just 33 for the calendar year.
Too often England are two down early and Joe Root is exposed to the new ball and fresher bowlers – a problem that has bedevilled the team on every Ashes tour since 2010-11. They won 3-1 that winter because they made huge totals, their No 3, Jonathan Trott, averaged 89. There is little confidence of Pope being that consistent.
Smith will return to the side, he was the rising star of the summer and took to Test cricket like a natural-born talent. If Bethell keeps his place in New Zealand it could be a straight shoot-out between him and Pope for the No 3 role when England play Zimbabwe in the first Test of next summer, before the five match series with India.
However, Smith could slot in at No 3 with Pope keeping the gloves and Bethell providing back up. Bethell is undoubtedly a shot-playing talent but he may not yet have the defensive ability to thrive at No 3. England learnt this summer against Sri Lanka what happens when they press a dasher into the top three. Dan Lawrence averaged 20 and was dropped, showing top three cover is a big issue.
Regardless of whether he looks good at No 3 across the series, Bethell has at least added to the batting depth. If he looks a viable Test batsman over three games, it would be a big positive for the tour. The other could be Pope finding some equilibrium and potentially a new job.
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