"He needs to have an honest conversation with Marcus Trescothick" - Nasser Hussain on Ollie Pope's struggles
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has urged Ollie Pope to work on his technique with batting coach Marcus Trescothick. Hussain reckons that the right-hander's trigger movement is causing him to be bowled a lot, of late.
Pope didn't start his captaincy stint in the best manner with the bat as Asitha Fernando dismissed him cheaply (six runs) on Day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Manchester. The stand-in captain averages 35.39 in 81 Test innings with six centuries.
In his column for The Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain opined that Pope's stance and a lack of calmness are the reasons behind getting trapped on the crease.
"I did a piece on Sky showing how 48 percent of Pope’s dismissals have been either LBW or bowled to pace. He looks rushed and off balance. I think his triggers are slightly late and he’s getting trapped on the crease because of it," Hussain wrote.
The cricketer-turned-commentator added:
"Now he can look at it and say they’re very good deliveries because they are or he could look at it and say that’s why I’m averaging 35 and I need to improve. I think he needs to have an honest conversation with Marcus Trescothick and see what could be done about it."
After managing 236 in their first innings, Sri Lanka had reduced the hosts to 67-3 at one stage. Nevertheless, the likes of Joe Root, Harry Brook, and Jamie Smith played invaluable knocks to lift their side to a lead.
"If I was the next batter in after Pope, I’d be a little bit fidgety" - Nasser Hussain
Hussain added that Harry Brook hardly looked flustered at the crease against Sri Lanka and observed his pristine hand-eye coordination amid the innings of 56. The 56-year-old wrote in his column:
"If I was the next batter in after Pope, I’d be a little bit fidgety and nervy but if I’m after Brook, I'd be a lot more comfortable. With Brook, I’ve never looked at him and thought ‘Crikey, he looks worried at the crease.' He’s got such good hand eye coordination and just loves batting. You saw the disappointment on his face when he got that jaffa from Prabath Jayasuriya when he was on 56."
At stumps on Day 2, England had reached 259-6 with a lead of 23 runs.