Australia licking their lips after fresh bouncer anguish for Ollie Pope

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In isolation, Ollie Pope’s dismissal on the third day, backing away as England attempted to set up a declaration, could swiftly be overlooked. But it continued an unwelcome trend: his vulnerability against short balls at Lord’s. In his past five Test innings at the ground, against Australia last year and Sri Lanka this summer, he has been dismissed three times by short balls.

Bouncer wars have been a feature of recent Lord’s Tests, particularly in last year’s Ashes. Quick bowlers’ relish for the strategy reflects the peculiarities of Lord’s, where large square boundaries make it much more difficult for batsmen to hook or pull sixes than at grounds such as Trent Bridge, which are much smaller. Its idiosyncratic slope that creates awkward angles for batsmen, is another hazard. The two-paced nature of the pitch also helps quick bowlers, rendering it hard for batsmen to get into a rhythm against short balls. The pitch tends towards the slow side, which makes it difficult for batsmen to duck balls bouncers or use the pace to their advantage.

The upshot is that, for all its reputation for helping swing, Lord’s has become the best Test venue in England to bowl short. In the past decade, bouncers bowled at Lord’s are hit for 22 runs per wicket, comfortably the lowest of any Test venue in England. Pope’s travails against short bowling reflect this.

2023 v Australia

First innings c Smith b Green 42
Batting at the Nursery End

England were rapidly moving into a dominant position against Australia. At 188 for one in their first innings, England expected to overhaul Australia’s first-innings 416 - especially with the boon of Nathan Lyon’s injury, leaving the visitors relying on three specialist quick bowlers. With Australia bereft, Pat Cummins asked Cameron Green, the fourth seamer, to bowl short. “Scatter,” you imagine Cummins must have told his fielders, who dispersed around the boundary, making no attempt to conceal Green’s intentions.

Lyon’s injury provided England with an opportunity to wear down Australia’s depleted attack. Without him to in a holding role, each futher spell that they were summoned back to provide would undermine the reserves of Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc for the remainder of the innings, match and series.

Pope did as Cummins had hoped; rather than eschew Australia’s challenge, he embraced it. Moving across his stumps, Pope met a Green bouncer that pitched outside off stump, and had turned 90 degrees by the time he had finished his pull. Pope chose to try to hit a six by clearing Steve Smith at square leg. But the bounce produced by 6ft 6in Green was such that Pope managed only to get the toe-end of his bat on the ball, which was caught by Smith.

Where Pope led, England followed. His wicket was the start of a 7.2-over period in which England lost three for 34 to the short ball, and ultimately 10 wickets in the Test.

2024 v Sri Lanka

First innings c de Silva b Asitha Fernando 1
Batting at the Pavilion End

Bowling conventionally in the 10th over on the first morning, Fernando deployed a subtle change: a back-of-a-length delivery angling into Pope. Swiftly on to the shot, Pope found himself cramped for room and could not get over the ball. It illustrated the perils of pulling when batting at the Pavilion End.

From this end, for the right-hander, a hook has two greater dangers. With the delivery going down the slope, it is hard for a batsman to get on top of the ball; to boot, the ball also tends to move away from the bat, and the direction of the shot. Playing a pull then, entails hitting a shot as the ball is moving in the opposite direction. The upshot is that it is more difficult for batsmen to get on top of the ball, leaving them liable to sky the ball,  as Pope did against Fernando.

2024 v Sri Lanka

Second innings c Jayasuriya b Asitha Fernando 17
Batting at the Pavilion End

The most easily explained of this trio of dismissals.

At 69 for two, England had a lead of exactly 300 runs and, even on the third morning, designs on declaring. With three men stationed for the hook, and Sri Lanka’s plans well-telegraphed, Pope backed away to the leg side against Fernando, moving his feet well outside leg stump as he hit the ball. Fernando’s short ball pitched on leg stump; freeing his arms, Pope flat-batted an upper cut to the off side. The area was largely unguarded, bar one man: Prabath Jayasuriya at deep backward point and he  ran around to his right to complete a straightforward catch.

Four overs later, as Sri Lanka stuck with their plot, Harry Brook attempted the same shot off a similar delivery by the same bowler. This time, Brook hit the ball firmer and flatter: it raced through point for four before Jayasuriya could get across to intercept the ball. It illustrated that Pope’s error lay less in judgment and more in execution.

But it also extended Pope’s struggles against short bowling, particularly at Lord’s. When he meets India here next summer, he can expect to encounter similar tactics. And Australia, you can be sure, will test Pope’s technique against the short ball Down Under.