In the moments after the first Test ended on Friday, in the warm – verging on searing, given the conditions – glow of a remarkable victory over Pakistan, Ollie Pope was asked where it ranked among the games he has been involved in over the past couple of years.
Considering the mind-spinning absurdity of the match that had just finished, and the amount of history made over the previous five days – shattering the nation’s 67-year-old record for highest partnership, becoming the first team to concede 500 runs and win by an innings, posting England’s highest score since 1938 and the highest ever compiled in Pakistan, England’s greatest individual innings since 1990, plus Joe Root becoming their leading Test run-scorer of all time, not bad for a few days’ work – his response was surprising: “It would be right up there,” he said. “Definitely top three.”
