London, Jun 18 (PTI) Former England skipper Alastair Cook backed Ollie Pope to retain the No. 3 spot in the batting line-up ahead of Jacob Bethell during the upcoming five-match Test series against India.
Pope, England’s vice-captain, staked his claim with a commanding 171 in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, their only red-ball fixture of the summer so far.
“Ollie Pope’s 170 meant a lot to me, he and (Zak) Crawley were under the pump and they delivered,” Cook was quoted saying in The Independent.
Despite that innings, Pope faces competition from the promising 21-year-old Bethell, who was part of England’s recent white-ball series sweep against the West Indies but opted out of the Zimbabwe Test.
“When I left New Zealand I thought they’ll go with Jacob Bethell but if he isn’t leaving the IPL to come and play a Test match, for whatever reason that is, it’s not a punishment, but that’s the way the cards have fallen whether it’s Bethell’s fault or not,” Cook said.
“If he’s that desperate to play I would have said he would have come out and played, then he’d have guaranteed his England selection. I don’t care what’s going on behind the scenes on that.” Both Pope and Bethell are in England’s 14-man squad for the series-opening first Test at Headingley from Friday.
While Pope brings experience with 56 Tests under his belt and eight centuries, Bethell averages 52.00 from just six Test innings, including a career best 96 against New Zealand last December.
Cook, one of only three England captains to win multiple Ashes at home, also looked ahead to this winter’s tour of Australia, where the No. 3 slot will again come under the spotlight.
“Will Pope play at number three in Perth? He’s in possession at the minute and we’ll find out if he’s good enough against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah,” the 40-year-old said.
“The issue I’ve always said about Pope, and I don’t think this changes, is his first 20 balls, Tuffers (Phil Tufnell) is more likely to get through his first 20 balls.
“Lots of judges of players have said that Bethell is really good, but at Warwickshire he struggled like a year ago, he struggled and was batting six behind (Sam) Hain, (Alex) Davies and guys that were picked ahead of him all the time,” he added. PTI TAP UNG
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