Surrey 312 for 3 (Pope 113*, Amla 73, Patel 58) vs Hampshire
But if there’s an opposition and a venue designed to help Pope feel comfortable at the crease, it is undoubtedly Hampshire at the Kia Oval. His status as the best young batter of his generation is unimpeachable on Surrey’s home ground, where he began the season with a first-class average of 99.94. And visualising the Hampshire team bus trundling up the M3 induces a state of tranquility in Pope that even Bradman would have envied.
His record coming into this match was three hundreds from as many outings, and he duly made it four – only once in five innings has he not managed to reach three figures against Hampshire at The Oval, his average in such encounters now in excess of 200. Throw in the maiden first-class hundred he made at Southampton in 2017, and you might have a new way of defining a dead cert. Never mind, “Is the Pope a Catholic?” Is he going to score a ton against Hampshire elicits the same response.
Pope’s winter ended in ignominious fashion, bowled behind his legs by Pat Cummins as part of England’s final, grisly collapse of 10 for 56 in Hobart; he was included for the tour of the Caribbean, carrying the drinks but not the can for another failure. But having warmed up with a half-century in last week’s high-scoring draw at Edgbaston, he duly peeled off his 13th first-class century with the sort of crisp, busy strokeplay that marked him out from the start of his county career five years ago.
Another change: Pope has apparently shifted to a middle-stump guard. While discussions of how a batter chooses to line himself up remain among the more arcane in cricket, many a sage observer had suggested last year that batting on off stump would only bring Pope trouble. Here he looked in almost complete control, placid conditions notwithstanding, his positioning and balance entirely at ease, scoring at an even tempo throughout (his fifty came off 73 balls, his hundred 151).
Noticeably, his runs came via soft hands either side of the wicket, repeatedly dabbed to third or whipped off the pads – the stroke that raised his century, met with rousing applause from a well-attended first day of the season at Surrey. Throughout the day, Pope only played five scoring shots in front of square on the off side, two of them in the penultimate over – indicative, perhaps, of his resolve. A delivery with the second new ball from Mohammad Abbas that jumped to take the glove before landing short of slip was one of the rare instances of his equilibrium being disturbed.
For Hampshire, it wasn’t quite déjà vu all over again (as Yogi Berra once had it). Surrey’s third-wicket stand between Amla and Pope was only worth 114 on this occasion – though Hampshire thought they might have had Amla much earlier, with confident lbw appeals on 0 and 8 turned down off Ian Holland. The first was perhaps a touch high, with Amla ostentatiously rubbing his right thigh to convey such an impression, while the latter could have sneaked down leg.
It was Holland’s medium pace that did for Burns, another batter looking to change some perceptions after being discarded by England – but after a composed start, a full-blooded drive resulted only in an edge to second slip. Ryan Patel made a punchy half-century, his second in as many matches, only to pull James Fuller’s second ball, a leg-side long hop, straight to Abbas on the rope; Amla, too, fell to a delivery he could easily have ignored, giving Holland a second. But the sledge that rang out across The Oval in the penultimate over – “300 for 3, James” – made plain Hampshire’s position at the close.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
Source: ESPN Crickinfo