Ollie Pope

Elegant batsman Ollie Pope is an English professional cricketer who represents England and Surrey County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed hitter who also serves as a wicket-keeper on occasion. Pope has been compared to Ian Bell by Sachin Tendulkar, Brett Lee, and Kevin Pietersen. His cover drive, ability to rotate the strike, and compact approach are often compared to Bell’s.

Pope made his List A debut for Surrey against Yorkshire in the semi-final of the 2016 Royal London One-Day Cup in August 2016. In May 2017, he made his first List A half-century against Sussex. In July of that year, Pope made his Twenty20 debut for Surrey in the NatWest t20 Blast. At the age of 19, he achieved his first-class century against Hampshire at the end of the 2017 season. Pope had a breakout year in 2018, when he scored four centuries and averaged 70.42 in Surrey’s County Championship-winning season, earning him the PCA Young Player of the Year title.

Pope’s success continued in 2019, as he was Surrey’s top batsman in the first-class season, accumulating 812 runs at an average of 101, including three hundreds, in only nine innings. Pope toured South Africa for England and struck 61 in the first innings of the second test. In the third Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth, he hit his first Test century for England, scoring 135. In the summer of 2020, Pope appeared in all six Test matches for England, making 215 runs at an average of 26.9 against Pakistan and the West Indies, including scores of 91 and 62. He was named to England’s Ashes squad for the 2021-22 season.