Batsman for England? Ollie Pope has said that New Zealand coach Brendon McCullum is responsible for helping him get over his anxiety of getting out in a test match.
After scoring 145 against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in his new number three position, the 24-year-old had a remarkable summer as one of England’s five century-makers.
According to Pope’s comments to the British media,”… from a mindset point of view, I think it’s more that I had some nice discussions with Baz (McCullum) actually, and he’s been very much stopped dreading getting out in test cricket.”
I’d do anything to have a successful career and play 100 tests or whatever the benchmark is in test cricket, I suppose because the game means so much to me.
I was definitely putting too much stress on myself, and the anxiety over breaking free had reached a crescendo.
I made an effort to get rid of it and focus on making runs.
Now whenever I try to cut something, I don’t worry that I might accidentally nick it, but rather that it might go over the slips for four.
I have been trying to adopt that philosophy in my head. He made his test debut at number six, and before this, Pope had never batted at number three in first-class cricket.
However, Pope now claims to be at ease in this position.
In his words, “I’ve loved that position this summer, it was new, but maybe I’ll be backed to do it in the future as well.”
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
