England Test team vice-captain Ollie Pope said that the day is not far away when a team posts 600 runs on board on a single day of Test cricket. However, the England side has adopted a form of Bazball in the ongoing home series against the West Indies, which is working for them well. England have registered an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series following a thumping 241-run win at Trent Bridge.
However, they had a poor season against India as they lost by 1-4. However, they bounced back and showed that they could score at will after amassing 50 runs in just 4.2 overs in the first innings of the recent second Test as well.
‘There’s a real hunger – there always is a hunger – but now there’s an extra bit in that batting line-up. We want to be as ruthless as we can as a batting unit, but still play the way we do because that’s our natural game. Obviously being ruthless is being part of Test cricket as well,” Ollie Pope said ahead of the third Test of the series.
“I got asked on day one at Trent Bridge ‘do you get told to play like that?’. No, we don’t. It’s just our natural games and the way we go about it. Sometimes we might score 280 to 300 in a day but that’s OK and probably because we’re reading situations. There might also be a day where we go and get 500 to 600 at some point in the future as well. And that’s a cool thing to have,” Ollie Pope further added
However, they will aim for a whitewash and a further boost in their World Test Championship (WTC) standings with a win over West Indies in the series finale in Edgbaston, Birmingham as well.
“There was obviously a lot said after the India series…,” Pope concluded. “I think winning can become a habit and the way we’ve gone about these two games is high class and that’s shown in the results so far. I actually felt I played better in the second innings [at Trent Bridge],” Pope said. “I got dropped twice in the first innings, one I actually creamed anyway. I didn’t feel quite at my best but I felt pretty good. And I felt pretty good at Lord’s last week as well so I’m happy to make it count in this game. Got that bit of luck and was able to cash in.”
