Ollie Pope was walking along the Cornish coastline on Tuesday evening when he realised he had missed a call from one of his childhood heroes, Brendon McCullum.
Pope had never spoken to England’s new Test Coach before but knew what the call would be about, and returned it instantly, “not expecting good news”. Down a crackly line from India, McCullum told him that not only was he back in England’s Test side, but he would bat No3, a job he has never done in first-class cricket.
