Ollie Pope insists England’s tactical gambles at Edgbaston were not “moments of madness” and is ready to embrace more of the same during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s this week.
England took a gung-ho approach to the series opener against Australia, most strikingly when Ben Stokes declared just 78 overs into the first day in a bid to catch the tourists cold and snap up some late wickets.
The attacking ‘Bazball’ ethos continued as the hosts pushed the game forward throughout the five days, only to lose by two wickets during a frantic final session.
Some of England’s decision-making has attracted scepticism from pundits and former players but, as Stokes’ vice-captain, Pope sees logic to every call the side made in Birmingham.
And, when the rivals resume battle on Wednesday, he backed England to take the same approach.
“I know sometimes it can look like it’s just moments of madness but all the decisions that are made are well thought out with a vision of the end goal,” he said.
“These decisions aren’t just a rash thought. They are well thought out and spoken about by senior players in the changing room.
“We come to a group decision and back that decision 100 per cent. There’s no looking back on that decision once it’s made, it’s about how we can make the most of it.
“We might find ourselves in a similar situation this week, who knows? That’s what Stokesy and Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum) are very good at, they read conditions very well.
“We’ll talk consistently throughout this Test match, (about) if there’s a decision like the first day at Edgbaston when we pulled out.
“If we feel there are overheads one evening and we might have a half-hour opportunity to get a few wickets and get into their middle order early the next day, then we’ll talk about it.”
One risk that England will need to weigh up involves the selection of spinner Moeen Ali.
He was tempted out of Test retirement on the eve of the series following a season-ending injury to Jack Leach but saw his right index finger blister and burst, reducing him to a bystander’s role in the conclusion of the game.
Pope faced Moeen in the Lord’s nets on Monday and offered a positive assessment, but despite five days of rest and recovery it seems impossible to rule out a recurrence of the issue if the 36-year-old was rolled out again.
England have called up 18-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, their youngest ever men’s cricketer in all three formats, as cover but could also recall paceman Mark Wood and lean on Joe Root’s part-time off-breaks.
“I think Mo’s all good, hopefully he’s fit to play,” said Pope.
“It was pretty unfortunate what happened and hopefully over these few days it has looked after itself.”
Ollie Robinson’s place, on the other hand, is under no doubt whatsoever.
The 29-year-old performed impressively with the ball in the first Test, taking five for 98, but has become a target for Australian ire due to his explicit sledging of centurion Usman Khawaja and an unapologetic press conference which followed.
Former greats such as Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden have lined up to shoot down the Sussex seamer – with Hayden colourfully writing him off as a purveyor of “124kph nude nuts” – but Pope is not concerned about the impact.
“Maybe he sees it as a compliment. They’re legends of the game and are entitled to their own opinion,” said Pope.
“Robbo’s in good spirits this week so hopefully he can just come out and deliver with the ball. I think Ollie is the kind of guy, he gets in the battle and sometimes in a big series like this emotions take over while you are on the pitch, but he’s a top guy.”
IPL: Du Plessis shines as RCB revival continues against Titans
A rapid 64 from captain Faf du Plessis helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a third consecutive Indian Premier League win as they again saw off Gujarat Titans.
RCB comfortably defeated the Titans in an away game six days ago and then comprehensively saw off Shubman Gill’s side once more on Saturday, this time at home.
After the Titans were bowled out for 147, RCB raced to a four-wicket victory with 38 balls to spare to move off the bottom of the IPL table, jumping up to seventh after overcoming a brief scare towards the end of their chase.
Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak took two wickets apiece as the Titans struggled batting first, falling to 19-3 midway through the sixth over. They needed Shahrukh Khan (37), Rahul Tewatia (35) and David Miller (30) to post some kind of total, with Tewatia passing 1,000 career IPL runs.
Any faint hopes of halting RCB’s run of form were ended when Du Plessis fired 64 from just 23 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, ably supported by opening partner Virat Kohli (42).
A brief spell of chaos saw RCB fall from 92-0 to 117-6 with Josh Little taking 4-45, but Dinesh Karthik (21 not out) and Swapnil Singh (15no) steadied the ship and finished off the chase.
Data Debrief: Kohli regains Orange Cap
While Du Plessis top scored in this game, another good knock from Kohli, who hit four maximums, saw the India great regain possession of the Orange Cap. With 542 runs in IPL 2024, Kohli has a narrow lead over CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (509).
Kohli is averaging 67.75 and striking at 148.08, with four fifties and a century to his name from just 11 innings in a memorable campaign.
He has helped RCB recover from being beaten in seven of their first eight games, while the Titans, finalists in each of the last two editions, have now lost four of their last five.
Windies A end Nepal tour with six wicket defeat; top five-match series 3-2
West Indies A concluded their tour of South Asia on a losing note, as they were handed a six-wicket beating by Nepal in the final encounter of a five-match T20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Caribbean side topped the series 3-2, but had very little to celebrate, as they failed to really put together a dominant collective display. Instead, the series win was lined with individual performances, namely from captain Roston Chase, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Alick Athanaze, as well as stellar efforts from Gudakesh Motie and Obed McCoy with the ball.
It was more of the same in the curtain call contest, where Athanaze’s unbeaten 29-ball 42 and Chase’s 33 off 23 balls, were the highlight of the West Indies A innings, which ended at 172-7, after they opted to take first strike.
Sagar Dhakal (3-17) and Sompal Kami (3-16) did the damage for Nepal with the ball.
In reply, Nepal, courtesy of half-centuries from Aasif Sheikh (51) and Anil Sah (58), easily got to their target with seven balls to spare.
McCoy led West Indies A bowlers with 3-36.
Scores: West Indies A 172-7 (20 overs); Nepal 173-4 (18.5 overs)
After losing opener Kushal Bhurtel (13) to McCoy in the second over, Nepal had very little trouble fending off West Indies A’s bowling attack, as Sheikh and Sah put together a 96-run second wicket stand, which laid the platform for the victory.
Wicketkeeper Sheikh smashed two fours and five sixes in his 35-ball knock, while Sah had four fours and four sixes in his 58 off 45 balls.
Even when that partnership was eventually broken by McCoy, who removed Sheikh in the 14th over, the host remained in firm control, and the win was inevitably wrapped up by Kushal Malla, who struck three fours and three sixes in a brisk unbeaten 18-ball 37.
Earlier, West Indies A lost their top order in the eighth over with just 60 runs on the board, as Johnson Charles (24), Kadeem Alleyne (11) and Mark Deyal (11), all failed to repel the attack of Dhakal’s slow left-arm orthodox spin.
Chase, who struck five boundaries in his 23-ball 33, and Athanaze, who had one four and three maximums, tried to repair the damage with a 40-run fourth wicket stand, before the former fell in the 14th over.
Matthew Forde, with a 12-ball cameo of 23, including three sixes, added some impetus to the innings, but when he fell to Kami, West Indies A lucked out, as the right had medium fast bowler also removed Fabian Allen (three) and Motie (one) in quick succession.
Athanaze and Hayden Walsh (seven) were left not out.
West Indies win fifth T20I by eight wickets to secure 4-1 series victory
The West Indies Women defeated hosts Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20 International at the Karachi National Stadium on Friday to complete a 4-1 series victory.
Pakistan, after being put in to bat by the West Indies, had an excellent start to their innings with Ayesha Zafar and Sidra Ameen putting on 38 for the first wicket before Zafar fell in the fifth over for 22.
Ameen and Muneeba Ali then put on a further 46 before the latter fell for 25 in the 13th over.
That same over saw Pakistan reduced to 86-3 when Nida Dar fell for two.
What proceeded that can only be described as a collapse as the hosts then lost their next five wickets for just 35 runs in five overs.
They eventually ended their 20 overs 134-8. Ameen was the final person out for a top score of 48 as Afy Fletcher was excellent with the ball for the Windies with 3-17 from her four overs.
Qiana Joseph also bowled well with 2-26 from four overs.
The successful chase was then anchored by superstar batter Hayley Matthews.
The skipper faced 59 balls and hit 11 fours on her way to a top score of 78 as the West Indies needed just 18.2 overs to reach 136-2.
Shemaine Campbelle provided good support with 33.
Matthews was named player of the series thanks to her 205 runs and seven wickets.
Full scores: Pakistan 134-8 off 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25, Ayesha Zafar 22, Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26)
West Indies 136-2 off 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33)
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