Ashes Tours Can End Careers: Ollie Pope Might Be Next

The Pressure on Ollie Pope

Adelaide is known as the city of churches, but for Ollie Pope, it's more like a place of trials. He will be batting in England's second innings after his soft dismissal to Nathan Lyon in the first Test. This situation raises serious questions about whether a player without a half-century in 15 innings against Australia can ever make it to the Ashes stage.

There's a harsh truth in English cricket: tours to Australia often end players' careers. Four years ago, Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, and Jos Buttler were part of England's top seven in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba. Since then, none of them has played Test cricket again. Pope now faces a similar fate.

He turns 28 before the Sydney Test, so he's young enough to come back, but he seems like a player who would benefit from time away from the spotlight. He's playing his 64th Test in Adelaide, but it feels like he's played the same game 64 times.

The uncomfortable truth is that Pope belongs to a group of English players—like Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash—who excel domestically but struggle against the best. He averages over 60 for Surrey in first-class cricket but below 35 in Tests, and just 24.20 against Australia and India. Like Ramprakash, self-doubt has plagued him.

Pope had a great opportunity in Adelaide. He walked out to bat at 37 for 1 on a pitch that Justin Langer called "an absolute road." There was a chance to keep Australia's attack out in the sun and allow Joe Root and Harry Brook to build a strong platform.

But Pope was caught between two minds, as he has been throughout this series and much of his career. He tried to leave Boland's second ball on length, but left his hands in the way and was struck on the glove. Then he chased the final ball of the over with hard hands and was cut in half by a nip-backer.

His dismissal was the nothing shot to end all nothing shots, disappearing into a batting black hole. Facing his second ball from Lyon, he decided to whip an offbreak through the leg side and offered Josh Inglis some catching practice at short midwicket.

This was yet another dismissal to a low-percentage option. Pope's best-case scenario from the shot he played was to beat midwicket to his left and scramble back for two. In Perth, he could not resist a drive on the up; in Brisbane, he chopped on jabbing at a cut. Pope is on his second Ashes tour, and playing Australia for the third time, but continues to make basic mistakes.

Pope started this series with 46 and 33 in Perth, but his second-innings tempo was criticized by his captain: "The guys who were able to be brave enough to knock bowlers off their lengths were the ones who seemed to find success." Since then, he has batted as though stuck between two gears, without the match awareness to shift up or slide back down again.

Before the Brisbane Test, Pope was asked a simple question about whether England would alter their approach and delivered a response that betrayed his scrambled mind. He spoke about the importance of "putting the bowler under some pressure" while simultaneously "soaking it up" and the need for "complete clarity" while also getting "a feel for it while you're out there."

Put simply, he seemed confused as to what sort of player he is meant to be: he has spent the last three-and-a-half years being encouraged to play his natural game, but is yet to discover what that looks like. Pope has won enough caps to be considered a senior player but bats with the naivety of a rookie.

He is often described as a good team man who has been messed around by England's management, having batted everywhere from opening to No. 7 in his career and deputised as captain and wicketkeeper as required. But the reality is that Pope has played 41 of their last 44 Tests, missing the other three through injury, and has not delivered on that investment.

Six months ago, Pope started England's home series against India with a century that secured his spot for the summer under pressure from Jacob Bethell and pledged to "kick on" by putting "runs after runs after runs." It looked like a turning point in his career, but in 13 Test innings since, he has managed 308 runs at 23.69 with a single half-century.

When Brendon McCullum backed Pope to continue at No. 3 in Adelaide, he warned against making "knee-jerk reactions," but his shortcomings have been clear for some time. Pope's next innings is the biggest of his life: his career—and England's thin Ashes hopes—depend on it.