Meet Ollie Pope, the young Englishman so talented even the Australians want him to succeed

Pope's time in Australian Grade cricket singled him out as a cricketer of rare promise

Ollie Pope of Surrey celebrates his century (Getty)

As any member of an Ashes touring party will tell you, a popular Pom is a rare commodity Down Under.

But in Sydney there will be plenty staying awake into early hours to watch Ollie Pope make his England bow against India at Lords on Thursday.

The 20-year-old has been called into the England squad in place of Dawid Malan for the second Test of the series. He does so having averaged over 85 in the County Championship so far this season.

It’s his time in Australian Grade cricket, though, that has singled him out as a cricketer of rare promise. After all, not too many English batsman have found themselves lauded in the New South Wales parliament over the years.

Pope impressed as part of the Lions set up (Getty Images)

Pope scored 633 runs for the Cambelltown Camden Ghosts – as a club who finished plumb in 2016/17 challenged for the championship with ‘the little red-head’ in their side.

“We were saying two years before he got in the England side so it has come a bit quicker than we thought,” says Graeme Hardy, the chairman of the club’s selection committee. But we couldn't have been happier for him when we heard the news.

“We knew as soon as we saw him play that he was something special – he’s a great keeper, a great bat and a really good bloke too, he’s the complete all-round package.

“He ticks all the boxes. It usually takes English players a bit of time to settle into Grade Cricket but he fitted in straight away. He just went from strength to strength. Some guys kick-back and rely on their natural ability to get by but Ollie worked so hard every day he was here.

“It was no holiday.”

Pope has also performed in the white ball game (Getty Images)

That hard work has paid off, long after leaving Australia behind, with the words of the local member of parliament ringing in his ears.

“Ollie’s contribution to the Ghosts’ cricket has been outstanding,” said Chris Patterson MP, during an address to the NSW Parliament back in March. “Off the field he has been an absolute gentleman and a wonderful role model with a strong work ethic. Ollie has shown respect for the game and his fellow players – a true sportsman in every sense of the word.”

Alongside his work with the government, Patterson is also the Vice President of the club, and his tribute is an indication of the esteem that Pope is held in at Campbelltown.

Another measure of his popularity is the fact that the club fired off a letter to Alec Stewart at the Oval immediately after hearing of his call-up on Sunday.

“The CCDCC (Campbell Camden District Cricket Club) is proud to have played a small part in assisting Ollie and will be supporting him from a far as he steps on to Lords this Thursday,” it read. “No doubt some more sleepless nights for his Australian friends.

“We wish him all the best......at least until the next Ashes series.”

Pope could make his England debut on Thursday (Getty)

That final line was accompanied by a smiley emoji – but it’s England who will be grinning broadly should Pope follow the example set by his Surrey and now England team-mate, Sam Curran.

“England seem to have a lot of these youngsters coming through so you should be pretty excited,” says Hardy. “We were hoping to see the little red head over here again this summer but we can live with that not happening if he’s scoring runs for England rather than us.

“He hit the ground-running as soon as he came back from Australia. When you’re on a roll like he’s on you just don’t want it to end.

“I think he would attribute a lot of what he has done to our first team captain, Jarrad Burke. He has scored 10,000 Grade runs and taken 600 wickets. Jarrad is a hard taskmaster, a guy who leaves no stone un-turned. He was the perfect guy for Ollie to play under.”

It’s the kind of approach that Pope has also adopted and it’s one that’s delivering results. For a player who only broke into the Surrey first team towards the end of last season, Pope has already come a long way.

The final step of his journey will be the toughest one yet but the former Ghost will be out to give India’s bowlers a fright on his debut.

And even the Aussies are willing him to succeed.