Sad News: About a minute ago, West Indies Cricket head coach Andre Coley died in a car c……
Pope’s ton was made all the more satisfying considering he was dropped by Alick Athanaze on 46 and Jason Holder on 54 either side of lunch, allowing him to reach 121 before he was removed by Alzarri Joseph.
The Surrey player’s century came in front of watching Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who Pope called his “lucky charm” with the footballer also having been in the stands for his double hundred against Ireland at Lord’s last summer.
“I’m obviously a big Arsenal fan so I go and support him a fair bit.
He seems to be my lucky charm on the cricket pitch as well,” said Pope, after a return to form.
Earlier this year, Pope made a remarkable 196 in Hyderabad to set up England’s first Test victory during an otherwise relentless winter in India, but following that century he only managed to make a combined score of 118 across the remaining four Tests.
“I’ve put in a fair bit of hard work before this series and I think I know how the West Indies try to come at us as a seam attack,” Pope said.
“They get the ball swinging and use their short ball, it’s a strong attack, for me it was about putting them under pressure and then the dropped catches were handy.
