England v India: Ollie Pope repays faith with hundred at Headingley

Saturday at Headingley. Fancy dress. A group of clergymen took their place on the Western Terrace.

Maybe there was a universe where Ollie Pope joined them in watching from the sidelines. Maybe his place was never under any serious threat from Jacob Bethell.

If it had taken a leap of faith from Ben Stokes to retain his vice-captain at number three for the first Test against India, then Pope picked the perfect time to play the grateful disciple.

A day after Stokes put England under the pump by giving away the chance to bat first, Pope’s century offered the captain a way out of purgatory, the number three 100 not out in England’s 209-3, 262 behind India’s 471.

“It sums up and proves why he’s England number three,” said opener Ben Duckett, who made 62 in a stand of 122 with Pope.

There is an argument to suggest any debate between Pope and Bethell is ludicrous. On Saturday, Pope pushed his average as England’s first-drop to 45.19, while Bethell has never made a century in professional cricket.

But numbers alone never tell the full story. Pope’s stats mask a feast-or-famine career – before this game 34% of his Test runs had come in only six of his previous 98 knocks. Pope can be a nervous, skittish presence at the crease. The calm Bethell looks born to be an international batter.

Stokes put the conversation to bed on Thursday, pointing to the 171 Pope made against Zimbabwe in Nottingham in May. Stokes said it would have been “remarkable” to leave him out after such an innings, without ever elaborating on what might have happened had Pope failed at Trent Bridge.

“There’s noise outside of a dressing room but there’s no noise in it,” said Duckett.

“We’re not having discussions about who’s going to play. It seemed pretty clear coming into this Test match that if a bloke scores 171 a few weeks ago he’s going to play this one.”

Still, Pope acknowledged the need to improve his record against India and Australia, the two sides England face across 10 defining Tests for the Stokes era.

The 196 he made against India in Hyderabad early last year is one of the all-time great innings by an Englishman overseas, but apart from that he has delivered slim returns against the two biggest teams in the world.

Before Headingley, Pope had an average of 22.05 in a combined 18 Tests against India and Australia.