Browsing: Ollie

Marcus Trescothick has hinted Ollie Pope will remain as England’s first-choice number three for the Ashes, saying the tourists are “very consistent” in their selection.

England meet England Lions in their only Ashes warm-up match in Perth from Thursday and are likely to field something close to the XI that will line up in the first Test on 21 November.

Pope has been under pressure for his number three spot from Jacob Bethell for the past year.

When asked who will fill the role in the tour match, England assistant coach Trescothick told BBC Sport: “I’m presuming the same sort of number three we’ve had for a period of time.”

He added: “I can only say we are a very consistent team in what we’re trying to do.”

Pope averages 41.60 batting at number three for England, although has a habit of fading as series progress. In the home summer he made a century in his first innings of the series against India, then passed 50 only once in his next eight.

When England announced their Ashes squad, Pope was replaced as vice-captain by Harry Brook, appearing to make the Surrey man more vulnerable to being left out of the team.

At the time, director of cricket Rob Key said Pope was the “man in possession” of the number-three spot.

Bethell, 22, is an outstanding prospect and made his first professional century in a one-day international against South Africa in September.

The left-hander was part of England’s white-ball tour of New Zealand last month so had the chance to press his Ashes case, but could only manage a highest score of 24 in five innings.

Bethell is still likely to be part of the tour game. Any players from the Ashes squad not in the England XI for the three-day game will join the Lions XI.

With playing only one practice match before the first Test, England want to ramp up the intensity during the game at Lilac Hill. Captain Ben Stokes, who often skips warm-up matches, is set to play his first cricket since July after recovering from a shoulder injury.

Despite that, former England opener Trescothick said performances in the warm-up would probably not alter plans for the first Test against Australia at Optus Stadium.

“I guess everyone has an opportunity to stake their claim,” he said. “As I mentioned, how consistent we’ve been with our team selection, it’s been very level.

“Bar the odd injury we’ve not really chopped and changed a great deal. It’s definitely not going to change dramatically before the start of an Ashes series because someone puts their hand up by taking five wickets or gets 150.

“The team has been what it has been for a period of time for a reason, so that when you come to big series you are more settled and confident going into it.”

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Returning to action for the first time since Saturday’s One-Day Cup final triumph, already relegated Worcestershire were brought back down to earth with a bump, as a searing Robinson spell saw the England seamer take four wickets in the first hour.

Youngster Rehaan Edavalath was caught behind with the third ball of the match, before Pears skipper Jake Libby saw his off-stump sent flying after facing just one ball as the Pears fell to 1-2.

Teenager Lategan provided a classy counter-attacking cameo for the hosts, easing the ball through the vacant offside whenever the opportunity arose.

But Robinson continued his unrelenting start to the morning, claiming two further scalps, including that of first-class debutant Isaac Mohammed who was pinned lbw, with a sobering opening hour rounded off with the dismissal of Rob Jones who suffered the same fate, leaving his side in a heap at 36-4.

Lategan continued his riposte but Worcestershire woes deepened with Roderick caught behind off the bowling of Unadkat, before Robinson collected his fifth wicket of a superb spell by removing the key man, Lategan, for his resolute 41.

Robinson almost secured his sixth wicket on a morning session dominated by the bowlers, but the umpires were not convinced Simpson had held on to a rebound catch behind, as lunch was taken with Worcestershire 91-6.

Unadkat picked up where he left off after the resumption as Ethan Brookes became his second victim with a regulation catch provided to Coles at slip.

He took his season’s tally of wickets to 13, after removing Tom Taylor caught behind for nine and trapping Ben Allison in front without scoring as the Pears’ landslide continued.

Robinson completed his six-fer with the wicket of Waite, who was the last man out.

The Pears hit back in resilient fashion as Allison led the way in an inspired early spell, taking three wickets to help reduce Sussex to 67-4.

The seamer first trapped Hughes (24) lbw, before taking a stunning one-handed caught and bowled to remove Carter and bowling Alsop for just one, while Taylor took his 51st Championship wicket of the season to drag the hosts back into the contest.

Simpson and Coles led the Sussex revival however, dominating an afternoon session that saw the fifth wicket pair add 90 runs before tea, with Coles reaching a fluent fifty in the process.

Both batters moved past 1,000 first-class for the season during the evening session, with Coles reaching his century from 105 balls, before he was bowled by Ben Gibbon as Simpson helped close a dominant day for the visitors on 228-5, leading by 105 runs as bad light stopped play.

Match report supplied by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay

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