Ollie Pope has hinted England may just have prepared their quirkiest Bazball plans yet for Australia talisman Steve Smith when the Ashes starts next week.
Surrey star Pope admitted England’s no-fear revolution under coach Brendan McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will face its toughest challenge yet in the shape of dogged run king Smith and the gritty Aussies.
Vice-captain Smith struck 121 in Australia’s first innings of the World Test Championship final at The Oval, in another ominous reminder of his Ashes threat.
England will take on Australia in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston from next Friday, leaving Pope well aware of the tourists’ threat – but unfazed given McCullum’s attacking rebrand.
“He loves batting in England, over the years he averages way over 60 now with this hundred,” said Pope.
“It’s obvious he knows these conditions, knows his game inside out, so there’s a lot of respect for him.
“There’s also a lot of talented bowlers in our changing room who have worked out ways we can challenge him – both edges as well.
“So I think that’s probably going to be the main thing for ourselves. Can’t say too much but there’s probably slightly different plans this time.”
Asked if dominating Smith and Australia is the ultimate challenge of the Bazball method, Pope continued: “Yeah, it probably is to be honest in an Ashes series. Again, he’s been an amazing player for a long time and had a lot of success in all different conditions.
“But what we’ve been good at as a team is we’ve used different approaches, not necessarily hitting the top of off the whole time in getting wickets and finding ways to get 20 wickets in a match whoever’s batting.
“Steve Smith is a highly skilled batter and scores a lot of runs but I think for him we might be looking at even quirkier ways to challenge him, test him out and make him as uncomfortable as we possibly can to try and get his wicket.
“But there’s a lot of respect for him in our changing-room and guys who obviously are doing a lot right so hopefully we can find a quirky way of really challenging him.”
Smith and Australia will always bear some residual scarring from the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, but the 34-year-old has long since rebuilt his career and continues to engender full respect from his peers.
“Watching him go about his stuff other than when it’s against us, I really enjoy watching him bat,” said Pope.
“I find it intriguing the way he does his angles and the way he changes his trigger for different bowlers – the way he negotiates different challenges in different conditions.
“From a pure cricket fan point of view, he’s someone I respect. A player who averages 60 in recent times in Test cricket – it’s amazing what he’s done.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him as a fellow batter. Hopefully he doesn’t score too many against us. But what he’s done in however long since his debut has been seriously impressive.”
