Ollie Pope says England Test captain Joe Root has been 'massive influence' on his early career
"A lot is written about Rooty but from inside the group he is an amazing captain"
Wednesday 12 February 2020 16:17, UK
Ollie Pope has enjoyed a breakthrough winter for England and says Test captain Joe Root has been a "massive influence".
Pope scored his maiden Test century during the series win in South Africa and has impressed to the extent his place in the team is secure for the foreseeable future.
The 22-year-old has also drawn stylistic comparisons with former England batsman Ian Bell as well as Root, and the Yorkshireman has been a source of inspiration for Pope for quite some time.
"He's one of my favourite players and has been for quite a long time now," he told Sky Sports News. "He's one of those guys that when I was 13, 14, 15 and started loving the game as much as I do, he was the guy going out and scoring runs for England every week.
"I'd watch him play and think that is the sort of tempo I want to play at really. Obviously, watching him playing, subconsciously I probably do some things similar to him, without going 'I want to copy Joe Root.' But yeah, a massive influence."
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It is not just as a batsman that Root has made an impact though. As a captain, Pope says he has helped make things as easy as possible for new players coming into the squad to perform, as they did so effectively in South Africa.
"Going away and winning a series anywhere is a massive achievement," Pope added. "A lot is written about Rooty but from inside the group he is an amazing captain, the energy he brings and how easy he is to chat to as a youngster just creates a really sound environment.
"It is a really healthy environment to come into at the moment, whether it is one of the big dogs like Stokesy or Jos (Buttler) or Broady, then Rooty at the top of the table, they make it a really easy environment to come into and it's awesome."
Having scored 266 runs in five innings, with a brilliant average of 88.66, at No 6 in South Africa, there is already talk of Pope moving up the order and batting at three.
The Surrey youngster insists he is happy where he is at the moment and will bat where he is asked. That promotion is bound to come at some stage but Pope is just looking at the next challenge, England's two-Test series in Sri Lanka next month.
"[The conditions will be] completely different, it's like playing a different game really," said Pope. "Obviously, South Africa had some 90mph bowlers, some fairly quick wickets and now we go to Sri Lanka and at No 6, you might not face a ball of seam. Who knows?
"I was out there last year and the amount it did spin shows that you've got to adapt your game. It will be a good challenge, especially for us youngsters. It'll obviously be a big challenge but one I'm looking forward to."
