Ollie Pope obviously shares more than just a first name with Oliver Cromwell after the England side he captained swapped the cavalier excesses of Bazball for the full ‘Roundhead’ experience in order to win the first Test of three against Sri Lanka.
Pope, stand-in leader for Ben Stokes whose torn hamstring consigned him to a dressing-room presence only, was forced to adopt the old-fashioned tactics of crease occupation and bowling dry with the old ball.
It was essential, too, as Sri Lanka proved a plucky foe after twice fighting back from perilous positions to give themselves a chance of winning the game.
How much of the shift to Roundhead ways was due to Pope stamping his personality on the team is arguable, for his own rash excesses with the bat seem undimmed. In any case, England had recently been showing signs of becoming more selective and ruthless in their use of Bazball during the previous Test series against the West Indies, so perhaps this was simply another step in that evolution.
There were other reasons for the circumspect approach. The absence of Stokes and Zak Crawley (through injury) and Jonny Bairstow (through form), Bazball’s chief architect and its main enforcers, meant at least two of the replacements were not quite as invested in the dervish whirl of those missing.
Also, Sri Lanka’s plan to bowl with great discipline to deep set fields and cut the boundary count was a shrewd one on an Old Trafford pitch that went to sleep more than usual, as it forced England’s batters to be patient.
Not all were happy to bide their time, though most with gung-ho tendencies ended up promptly paying with their wicket. One who didn’t was Jamie Smith, England’s latest wicketkeeper, promoted in Stokes’ absence to No.6 in the order.
Smith scored his maiden Test hundred in the first innings before adding vital impetus to England’s run chase in the second with a brisk and timely 39.
Since Bazball’s inception we have seen some spectacular innings from England’s batters but one thing has been obvious; their audacious strokeplay has mostly involved enormous risk.
Not so with Smith, who seems in total control of everything he does as he belts bowlers around at will without appearing to gamble in the slightest.
I can recall Keith Fletcher, my old captain at Essex, saying he had never seen a young player in such control of his emotions and shots as Alastair Cook. From what I have seen so far I reckon Smith, who is averaging 59.5 after four Tests, trumps him on both counts.
Of course bigger challenges await such as the Ashes when the Aussie quicks will be yapping in his ear and trying to knock his block off. But cope with that and we’ll know for sure that England have a batter of rare gifts.
Despite Smith’s precocity it still required someone steeped in the old ways like Joe Root to get England over the line. As befits a player with a sound technique, Root was happy to bat time and build partnerships. It wasn’t pretty or exciting but his unbeaten 62 in just over three hours was professional and got the job done.
It also kept England on course for a summer clean sweep (they have so far won four Tests in a row) and a timely boost to their World Test Championship rankings.
Bottom two months ago, they have leapt to fourth behind India, Australia and New Zealand – all previous finalists.
So a feather in the cap for captain Pope, who must do without his enforcer Mark Wood for Thursday’s next Test at Lord’s after the fast bowler strained a thigh.
Injury is a recurring problem for him and thrilling though the sight of Wood is, as he unleashes his 90mph rockets at opponents, he seems to be about as robust as a choc ice in a sauna.
Even a strictly tailored workload of four-over spells wasn’t able to keep him on the park, which makes you wonder if he is just some terrible tease – here one minute to give England a world-beating cutting edge, gone the next into that depressing world of treatment and rehab.
His absence for the remainder of the series will have Sri Lanka’s batters breathing huge sighs of relief, though perhaps not too large.
Another Oliver, Olly Stone, has slippery pace and the kind of high- arm action that finds favour at Lord’s with its sloping pitch.
Yet his England story (three Tests) is also more about injury than dashing deeds which may be why the selectors have also called up Josh Hull, a 6ft 7in left-arm paceman from Leicestershire.
Hull recently took five wickets for England Lions against the tourists in their only warm-up game, a performance which impressed everyone who saw it.
The big question on everyone’s lips, though, is will England, especially now they are one-nil up in the series, continue to take the sensible percentage options or will they revert to the thrills and spills of Bazball proper, which has wowed and frustrated us in equal measure?
The rococo flourish of the cavalier or the patient method of Ollie’s New Model Army? Lord’s awaits, with fourth and fifth-day ticket holders no doubt hoping it is the latter.
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