 Ollie Pope batting for Surrey in 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Oliver John Douglas Pope | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1998-01-02)2 January 1998 (age 27) Chelsea, London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Middle-order batter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 687) | 9 August 2018 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 14 December 2024 v New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–present | Surrey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Welsh Fire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024-present | London Spirit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024/25 | Adelaide Strikers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:ESPNcricinfo,17 March 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oliver John Douglas Pope (born 2 January 1998) is an Englishcricketer who plays for theEngland cricket team in Test cricket and is the current vice-captain. He plays domestically forSurrey County Cricket Club.[1] He is a right-handedbatter who occasionally plays as awicket-keeper.[2] He made his Test debut against India in 2018.
Pope attendedCranleigh School and is the great-great-great-great-grandson of the school's first headmaster, Joseph Merriman.[3] He played club cricket for bothGuildford and Cranleigh Cricket Clubs and was a member of the Surrey age-group sides.
On 26 August 2016, Pope signed a two-year professional contract with Surrey.[4] Two days later, he made hisList A debut for Surrey in the semi-final of the2016 Royal London One-Day Cup againstYorkshire.[5]
He made hisfirst-class debut on 28 March 2017 for Surrey againstOxford MCCU as part of theMarylebone Cricket Club University fixtures.[6] Pope scored his maiden List A half-century on 7 May 2017 againstSussex.[7] He made hisTwenty20 debut for Surrey in the2017 NatWest t20 Blast on 7 July 2017.[8] Pope scored his maiden first-class century againstHampshire at the end of the 2017 season, at the age of 19.[9]
During the 2017/18 winter, he was selected for theECB's overseas placement programme in Australia whereby he played for theCampbelltown-Camden District Cricket Club in the NSW Premier Cricket League.[10] Pope went on to score 994 runs, including 3 centuries, and even received a commendation in theNew South Wales parliament for his on & off-field exploits from MPChris Patterson, who was the club's vice-president.[11] Pope's breakout year was 2018, when he hit 4 centuries and averaged 70.42 runs in Surrey's County Championship-winning campaign, and was awarded thePCA Young Player of the Year award.[12] Pope's success continued into 2019, as he was the highest-scoring Surrey batter in their first-class season with 812 runs at an average of 101, including 3 centuries, across only 9 innings.[13]
Pope re-entered the Surrey side for nine matches of the2021 County Championship after the Covid disrupted 2020 season, scoring 861 runs at an average of 78.27, including totals of 245 againstLeicestershire and a career-best 274 againstGlamorgan.[14][15][16]
In April 2022, he was bought by theWelsh Fire for the2022 season ofThe Hundred.[17]
Pope was added to England's squad for thesecond Test against India atLord's,[18] where he made his Test debut, on 9 August 2018.[19] He made 28 in his only knock, as England won by an innings. Later that year, he was selected for England's tour ofSri Lanka.[20] However, having played no part in England's first Test, he was released from the tour in order to join up with theEngland Lions for their game againstPakistan A in the UAE.[21]
During a strong 2019 season, Pope was called up as cover forJason Roy before the 3rdAshes Test atHeadingley.[22] Although Roy was eventually passed fit to play, this saw Pope back in the International picture and a month later he was called up to the England Test squad to faceNew Zealand.[23] In the second Test atHamilton, Pope made 75 runs in England's only innings.[24] Pope then touredSouth Africa but missed the first test due to illness. He then top scored in the first innings of the second test with 61* and then followed this up with his maiden Test century for England in the third Testagainst South Africa inPort Elizabeth, with 135*.[25]
On 29 May 2020, Pope was named in a 55-man group of players to begin training ahead of international fixtures starting in England following theCOVID-19 pandemic.[26][27] On 17 June 2020, Pope was included in England's 30-man squad to start trainingbehind closed doors for theTest seriesagainst the West Indies.[28][29] On 4 July 2020, Pope was named in England's thirteen-man squad for the first Test match of the series.[30][31]
Pope played in all six Test matches of the 2020 England summer, scoring 215 runs at an average of 26.9 againstPakistan and theWest Indies, including scores of 91 and 62.[32] Due to a shoulder injury sustained during the Pakistan series, Pope was not included in the England squad for their2021 tour of Sri Lanka, though he travelled with the tour party so that he could work on his fitness with the team's physiotherapist.[33] He was also not originally included for England's2021 tour of India, though again he accompanied the tour party, but was added after the England medical team were satisfied he had recovered sufficiently.[34] Pope played in all four tests, scoring 153 runs at an average of 19.1, in England's 3–1 series defeat.[35][36]
In England's2021 series against New Zealand, Pope made 84 runs in 4 innings, with a highscore of just 23.[37] Due to a quad injury, Pope only played in the fourth Test against India intheir tour of England, making scores of 81 and 2.[38][39] Pope was included in England's squad for the2021-22 Ashes.[40]
Pope was included in the England squad for the2022 test series against New Zealand.[41] In the second Test he made a score of 145, which included 13 fours and 3 sixes.[42]
On 16 May 2023, Pope was named England's vice-captain.[43] In June 2023, Pope broke the record for the quickest Test double hundred to be made in England, as he reached 200 in just 207 balls at Lord’s against Ireland, beating the previous best of 220 balls achieved byIan Botham against India in 1982.[44]
Pope suffered a dislocated shoulder in June 2023, preventing him playing for several months.[45]
Pope was part of England's squad for the5 match Test tour of India in 2024.[46] In the second innings of the first test match of the series, he played a match-winning knock of 196 runs which is the fourth highest score by an Englishman in India.[47]
Pope was part of England's squad for the three-match Test series in 2024 against theWest Indies cricket team.[48]
WhenBen Stokes was injured prior to England's series againstSri Lanka, Pope stepped up from vice-captain to lead the side in those three matches.[49]
Veteran cricketersSachin Tendulkar,Brett Lee andKevin Pietersen have compared Pope's technique to that ofIan Bell.[50] Similarities with Bell are often drawn to Pope's "elegant"cover drive, ability torotate the strike, and "compact" technique.[51][52]
