Follow UsIs it possible to exactly predict what’s going to happen in a cricket match even before it starts? Tough.
But if you’re going to predict that ‘Ollie Pope is going to fail in the second innings’, chances are that you’ll be right 99/100 times.
Pope, stand-in captain in this Test and someone with an extraordinary first-class record at The Oval, entered the fourth day needing a big score to stamp his authority and drive England towards victory. Yet what unfolded was yet another second-innings failure from the right-hander as he was dismissed for 27.
The numbers are damning. Pope has now batted 46 times in the second innings (3rd / 4th innings), where he averages 19.81. NINETEEN.
Just how bad is it? Well, turns out, Pope is statistically the worst batter in history in the second innings of Test matches. No batter who has batted at least 45 times in the third and fourth innings of Tests has averaged lower.
Lowest average in the second innings in Tests (min 45 inns)
19.81 - Ollie Pope
20.38 - Mohammad Ashraful
23.24 - Grant Flower
23.65 - Kraigg Brathwaite
Top 7 batters only*
On the day, Pope got dismissed in the most predictable manner imaginable, falling LBW to a Mohammed Siraj nip-backer. It’s predictable because Pope’s technique is so prone to bowled and LBW dismissals, so much so that the numbers brutally reflect that.
Since the start of 2021, Pope has been dismissed LBW or Bowled against pacers a staggering 27 times — that’s six more than any other batter during this period.
Most times getting dismissed Bowled & LBW vs Pace since 2021
27 - Ollie Pope
21 - Joe Root
18 - Usman Khawaja
18 - Kraigg Brathwaite
Coming back to Pope’s struggles in the second innings, he has crossed the 50-run mark in the third/fourth innings just twice in the Bazball era. One of the two instances was the 196 away in Hyderabad, which was one of the finest knocks played by an Englishman away from home.
Since that 196, though, Pope has passed 50 in the 3rd / 4th innings just once in 16 attempts. And he’s averaged an eye-watering 14.93. In this ongoing India series, Pope has been a complete non-factor in the second innings, with his scores reading 27, 4, 24, 8.
He might be captaining England in this Test, but it won’t be an overstatement to claim that Pope’s spot in the first team will NOT be guaranteed heading into the first Ashes Test in Perth.