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Ollie Pope is still battling to take his place in the fragile batting line-up which England hope can stand up to India’s formidable attack when Test cricket creeps back to Trent Bridge this week.
The start of a marquee series England desperately need to win has barely registered amid the hype and hysteria of a new toy — the Hundred — which the ECB cannot afford to fail.
But the moment of truth for an England side badly beaten in India last winter and then by New Zealand earlier this summer arrives on Wednesday. Doubts linger over their underperforming top order.
Ollie Pope is still battling to take his place in the fragile England batting line-up at Trent Bridge
First England lost talisman Ben Stokes, partly as a consequence of an unremitting schedule that will claim more victims unless cricket eases the demands on its best players.
Now they are waiting to see if one of their brightest young lights can resume his stuttering attempt to prove he is England’s next great batsman.
‘A decision is still to be made,’ said Pope on the thigh injury he suffered playing Twenty20 cricket for Surrey. ‘I’ve been hitting a lot of balls and trying to do as much running as I can. I’m still feeling it a bit but nothing major.
‘I’m hopeful but it will be up to the physio and management to manage the risk. It’s trying to make sure that if I do play in this one it won’t create issues for the next four Tests.’
