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Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook reveals why he thinks Ollie Pope deserves No 3 spot against India in upcoming Test series
Sir Alastair Cook believes Ollie Pope deserves to keep his place at No 3 for the start of England's big Test series of the summer. Speaking at the launch of The Overlap and Betfair's Stick to Cricket show, Cook said that rival Jacob Bethell sacrificed his chance to occupy that position against India at Headingley on Friday when he opted to play in the Indian Premier League rather than face Zimbabwe last month. Warwickshire's Bethell, 21, made an impressive start to his Test career with three half-centuries against New Zealand before Christmas when Pope slipped down the order and took the wicketkeeping gloves. But Bethell's decision, made in conjunction with the England and Wales Cricket Board, to gain a season's experience with IPL champions Royal Challengers Bangalore allowed Pope to return to his more familiar role at first wicket down and he responded with 171 against the Zimbabweans. 'When I left New Zealand I thought they'd go with Jacob Bethell but if he isn't leaving the IPL to come and play a Test match, for whatever reason that is, that's the way the cards have fallen,' Cook said. 'Whether it's Bethell's fault or not, if he was that desperate to play I would have said he would have come out and played, then he'd have guaranteed his England selection.' Pope is vice-captain to Ben Stokes in Test cricket, but with competition for places developing there were no guarantees heading into a year that includes 10 matches - five versus India at home followed by an away Ashes - of his retention. '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,' Cook added, in conversation with Mail Sport's David Lloyd, 2005 Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan and another former England international Phil Tufnell. 'The issue I've always said about Pope, and I don't think this changes, is his first 20 balls. Tuffers is more likely to get through his first 20 balls.' Meanwhile, a change of personnel at the top of India's order is guaranteed for the series opener in Leeds following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the opening stages of 2025. 'One thing we know of India is that they're going to be so talented,' Cook continued. 'They could pick 18 batsmen of almost the same quality and it'd be really interesting to see whether that talent - without those two there - now flies. 'They think: 'I can actually express myself, we can bat how we want to bat.' Obviously, if you go into a batters' meeting and Kohli is like: 'This is what we should do.' They all might have to nod. Now they might go: 'Actually, we're younger, we want to take on England a bit more, we want to be more aggressive, this is what suits us.'' Betfair are set for a big summer and winter of cricket, launching a new show with The Overlap: Stick to Cricket. Don't miss the first episode next week, where the team will be reviewing the opening Test of the series between England and India.
The Independent
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Joe Root's career in numbers after becoming England's record ODI run-scorer
History repeated itself for Joe Root on Sunday as he became England's record one-day international run-scorer by making his career-best score in the format. It matches his achievement in Test cricket last year and here, the PA news agency looks at his latest statistical achievement. Deja vu Root's long pursuit of Sir Alastair Cook's record 12,472 Test runs for England reached its climax in October's first Test against Pakistan in Multan when he moved his innings on to 70. He continued the following day to reach 262, passing his previous Test best of 254 to claim the record in memorable style – and remarkably repeated the feat in ODIs with Sunday's match-winning innings. Going into the game needing 42 to pass Eoin Morgan's record 6,957 ODI runs for England, he ticked off that mark before his 11th boundary of the innings took him past 7,000 for his career. He passed his previous best ODI score of 133 with a six off Justin Greaves in the 41st over and finished on 166 not out, moving to 7,082 career ODI runs, as England chased down 309 to win by three wickets with seven balls to spare. Root's record Root has over 20,000 runs for England across all formats, having been a key man for his country since his Test debut in December 2012. His Test total moved past 13,000 with his 34 in the recent win over Zimbabwe, after which he has 13,006 at an average of 50.80 in 153 matches. He averages 49.18 in ODIs and, while he has not played a T20 international since 2019 and made just 893 runs in 32 appearances, he averages a respectable 35.72 in the sprint format. Sunday was Root's 18th ODI century to go with 36 in Tests, a total of 54. He also has a further 112 international half-centuries to his name – 65 in Tests, 42 in ODIs and five in T20s. Root's underrated off-spin has brought him 71 Test wickets, 28 in ODIs and six in T20s for a total of 105.
