Bethell vs Pope for No.3: Rob Key feels Headingley call won't define careers
England's managing director of men's cricket, Rob Key, doesn't feel that the careers of Jacob Bethell and OIlie Pope will be defined by the selection for the Headingley Test against India, starting from June 20. Bethell and Pope are in a direct battle for the No.3 spot for the first Test. Pope recently scored 171 in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, while Bethell impressed everyone with three fifties during the tour of New Zealand. advertisementKey, however, doesn't see the competition as a problem for the England team management and feels it is a win-win situation for the team. The England managing director feels that it would have been an issue if they didn't have good options to fill in the slot. "I don't see it as a problem, really," Key told the Telegraph's cricket podcast. "You win either way, really. You've got two brilliant players that can do that role. Ollie Pope's been fantastic in that tough spot; he played brilliantly in New Zealand alright, he was in a different role, but we've got two brilliant options in those spots."
"A tough decision is when you've got no options, and you've got to just then try and find something from nowhere. That's when I'm sort of scratching my head. This one is: 'Which really good player are we going to pick?' It's a good position to be in."'Watching Bethell's development has been extraordinary'advertisementKey said he also had no regrets about having Bethell stay in India to play in the IPL, instead of playing the one-off Test against Zimbabwe. Key feels that England will reap the rewards of Bethell's stay in India in the future. "I don't think [that] the careers of Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell are defined by what happens this week, or whether he came back to play the Zimbabwe Test. He may not have played that Test match," Key said. "Watching his development has been extraordinary, and him going out there and playing in the IPL, I think was brilliant for him. We'll get the return on that in the future."Must Watch
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