England’s crisis in the ongoing Ashes Test series has some rare positive aspects as the English bowling attack reduced the Australian batting contingent to 86/4 on Day 4 of the fourth Ashes Test.
And one man who has been in the center of all the attention on Day 4 is the substitute wicketkeeper Ollie Pope, who took three catches. The so-called 'Super Sub' is making a good case for himself after England’s regular wicketkeeper Jos Butler injured his left index finger.
Pope in a new role
Pope is not a regular keeper and standing with the gloves is indeed a rare sight for him. The 24-year-old has been in and out of the squad and was dropped after the Pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Though he has been offering his services as a substitute. He has only feature as a wicketkeeper in first-class cricket on six occasions and the last of those came in 2019 against New Zealand in Hamilton. Pope is not even a regular keeper for his county side Surrey but has done well to grab three catches in the morning against Australia.
Marcus Harris, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, all of these three batsmen’s catches were taken by the 24-year-old keeper. The English team management though will be concerned for Butler after the regular wicketkeeper looked relatively uncomfortable in batting on Day 3 of the Sydney Test. He along with Bairstow have been examined by the medical officials as they now face a long wait to see whether both the star England players are available for the rest of the contest or not.
Billings the replacement
The England Cricket Board (ECB) seemed prompt enough to draft Sam Billings in the squad as a potential replacement. Billings is currently playing in Australia in the Big Bash League (BBL) for the team Sydney Thunders.
At the time of writing, Australia are 149/4 in the second innings and lead by 271 runs with Usman Khawaja (35) and Cameron Green (26) in the middle. Australia would aim to win the Sydney Test and try to whitewash their rivals knowing they are two batters short when the visitors will come out to bat in the second innings.
Bairstow, scorer of England's only century in the Ashes will be optimistic for the second innings. Australia currently lead the five-match Ashes Test series 3-0.
