Ollie Pope: ‘I think I’ve just become a better player over the last two years’

Upswing in form as England’s No 3 has been inspired by McCullum and Stokes in seeing the runs rather than the wickets, says batter

I want to talk numbers with Ollie Pope. Yes, we’ll get to that Test No 3 spot, where he is averaging 41.63 and striking at a breezy 75 over the past year. After a nightmare Ashes tour, he was the kid whose potential wasn’t turning into something substantial. Now he’s a staple of the future England captain conversation.

But since we’re at the Oval, in view of the field he spends more time on than any other, let’s begin with these figures. After 35 first-class innings on this ground, the Surrey batter has hit 11 hundreds and strummed 2,552 runs at an average of (drum roll) 94.51. So, Ollie, how often do you think about that average when you’re batting here?

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/HYhZJQv