CHENNAI: AT the 2018 U19 World Cup semifinals, a long-haired ginger Australian leg-spinner put the English batters in a tizzy. He scalped eight wickets (8/35)— a record which still stands to this date in U19 level. Cut to 2025, that same long haired, baby-faced boy is bald, and sports a thick beard. He is Lloyd Pope. He has shown that he can make life difficult for batters, as he scalped six wickets against Saurashtra here in the MRF-Pachaiyappa's ground recently.This is part of a 12-member Australian team's visit to India, where emerging batters, wicketkeepers and spinners get to experience the pitch conditions in India.
The 25-year-old leggie took pleasure in bowling in Indian conditions for the first time. "It has been a lovely challenge, against a really good team. Bowling with the SG ball for the first time, I am learning a lot here and it is nice to lead into my season back home with a nice challenge here in India," he told this daily.
He comes on the back of a good outing in the Vitality T20 blast in England, where he plays for the Northamptionshire Steerbacks. He enjoyed being part of a historic South Australia team that clinched the 2024/25 Sheffield Shield after 29 years against Queensland in the final in March this year.
Though he played a pivotal part in leading his team to the final, Pope sat out in the final, considering the pitch conditions at the Karen Rolton Oval then. "The wicket didn't really spin a lot. Credit to our squad, we had got some very good fast bowlers. They decided to go with the fast bowlers on that day. All I wanted was that to be the right decision and we won the game," he said.
He further explained his season where South Australia won both the Shield and the One-Day Cup. "At the start of the year we said the squad's going to win the Sheffield Shield, not just the 11 players. Just to be even named in that squad, that's a huge achievement for me personally. (With regards to what he did) I tried to improve my stock ball trying to make my leg-break an effective ball to get wickets. That probably was not the easiest thing. It took quite a while for me to get to a stage where I feel like on Australian wickets that I am spinning the ball away from the bat and getting a bit of shape in the air and bounce off the wicket. That's quite a small adjustment but quite a hard one to make. I spent a lot of time doing that," he said.
Listening to India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja talk on spin bowling, Pope then switched his aim before his delivery. "If I could take one thing away from what he says, it is just hitting the stumps as many times as possible. He is one of the best in the world. I think that's probably been one of the things that I've been focussing on in all formats of cricket for the last 12 months," he added.
After that memorable campaign, Pope now aims to be a mainstay in the Australian team. "I think we have got a great team and where we are going is just continuing upwards. I think where cricket is in general in the world and where my cricket is, it's both really exciting. I'm looking forward to the season coming up," he said.