Previous England regimes would have dropped the Surrey batter
HAGLEY OVAL — Harry Brook’s seventh Test century, and third of the year, was the standout contribution from an English perspective on the second day of this series opener in Christchurch.in the Queenstown nets forced a rejig that saw an out-of-form Pope drop down from No 3 to six and take the gloves for this opening Test.
Pope, as ever skittish at the start of his innings, took eight balls to get off the mark. But he needed just another 51 to reach his half-century and once in, he reminded everyone what a classy stroke-player he can be. Jacob Bethell didn’t pull up any trees in his first professional game at No 3, scoring 10. But England might give him another game.
He admitted after this knock that he wanted to establish himself as England’s long-term No 3, saying: “I want to keep trying to make that position mine. Obviously, in my own self-analysis I’ve had too many low scores there but I’ve also managed to put together some good knocks this year batting at three.”
Pope also revealed that after Pakistan, he spent time back at Surrey with Alec Stewart, the former England captain who is now high-performance advisor at The Oval, to get in the right “head space” for this tour.
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