England’s No3 has had a peculiar year. Starting in Hyderabad in January, he played one of the greatest innings in Test history.
His 196 was legacy-defining, as well as match-winning. India head coach Rahul Dravid described it as the best innings he had seen by an overseas player in history. It was a remarkable moment that rubber-stamped what those in the upper echelons of the sport had been telling people for years: that the boy can play.
But then the runs dried up. In his next eight innings across the India tour he mustered just 118 runs, including a pair in the Fourth Test. Rather than his batting style being described as ‘busy’, it was instead being described as ‘frenetic’. And then, when he came back to England to play for Surrey, the runs did not return; 10 innings bringing a high score of 63 and an average of 23.
“ I wouldn’t say [ I had] doubts,” Pope said yesterday. “But you are like, ‘Why’s everyone else in the country scoring runs in county cricket but England’s No3 isn’t going out and averaging 50 this summer?’”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 19, 2024 من Evening Standard.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 19, 2024 من Evening Standard.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
ARTETA GETS NEW DEAL WITH GUNNERS
MANAGER COMMITS FUTURE TO CLUB UNTIL 2027
Opportunity knocks for Spurs amid rivals' crisis
Injury-hit Gunners facing a tough test as Postecoglou aims to reverse recent trend
Pressure is on misfiring Muniz and Antonio to spark campaigns into life
WHEN Andreas Pereira and Willian presented Rodrigo Muniz with the Premier League player of the month award for March, the striker’s tears of joy spoke of his own surprise at how drastically his fortunes had changed.
Madueke's England challenge boosts the Blues
CHELSEA’S Cobham training ground may be the most densely-populated patch of land across the entire home counties, but head down there this week and it ought not to take much to pick out Noni Madueke.
John Lewis cuts first-half losses after turnaround
THE boss of John Lewis today said he was confident of “positive” Christmas trading and “significantly higher profits” for the year as Britain’s leading partnership recovers from the worst crisis in its history.
Fever-Tree falls foul of the bad weather
FEVER-TREE seemed to be running out of fizz today as poor weather and a “subdued” consumer backdrop hit sales.
Why won't anybody take my novel of unrelenting male misery? I blame men
WHY don’t men read? Oh, I know dear male Standard readers do, those urbane, literary, poised and secretly perverted doyens of good taste. But those other men, they are not reading fiction.
The NHS needs more than long-term reform
THE NHS has become such a bleak topic of discussion in recent years that it is almost impossible to imagine it being fixed. Lord Darzi’s report paints a picture of an organisation grappling with several crises: in primary care, hospitals and the treatment of longterm illness. Its findings make for grim reading.
Ultrasound gives sickle cell teen new freedom
A TEENAGER with sickle cell disease has had her life transformed thanks to a pioneering ultrasound procedure performed by London doctors.
'Now let's get justice for the subpostmasters'
Mr Bates star Toby Jones makes a plea as he collects his gong at I'V awards
