Ben Duckett hailed Ollie Pope's resilience after the stand-in England captain shook off his poor form to hit his seventh Test century in the third Test versus Sri Lanka.
Bad light limited play on day one of the final test at The Oval on Friday, but Pope made good on the time allowed to smash 103 runs off as many deliveries.
Standing in to lead the team with Ben Stokes out injured, Pope had failed to make more than 17 runs in any of his first four innings in the series, being limited to single figures on three occasions.
Friday's ton, though, was his third in Tests this year, after knocks of 121 versus West Indies in July and 196 in India in January. Only eight England batters have accomplished that feat, and Pope is the first to do so since Gary Ballance in 2014.
He is also the first batter in history to hit his first seven Test tons against seven different opponents, in Sri Lanka, West Indies, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan.
Duckett, who himself fell short of his fourth red-ball century as he went for 86 runs off 79 balls, was delighted to see Pope quieten the doubters.
"Everyone is so happy for anyone's success in this dressing room, it's an incredible place to be," Duckett told Sky Sports.
"There was a lot of noise around Ollie. There shouldn't be but there has been and I know what it’s like at the top of the order and he's had a far better summer than I have.
"To block that out and score an incredible 100 was so good, you could see that from his emotions. We’re all extremely happy for him.
"People are paid to give their opinion, which is completely fair enough and I saw Pope say that last week.
"To go two games without a big score is not a long time and facing the new ball in England, I know how tricky it can be. For Pope to go out there and express himself at a ground that he loves, it's just credit to him."
Unbeaten on 103, Pope will return to the crease alongside Harry Brook (8) on Saturday, with England 221-3 as they chase a series whitewash.
Westmoreland secures 2024 Kingston Wharves Under-15 Cricket title
Westmoreland overpowered Kensington to become the undisputed champion of the 33rd Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket competition at the Ultimate Cricket Ground in Discovery Bay St. Ann recently.
Westmoreland shared the championship twice in the distant past but became the sole champion this year, winning all its matches in the preliminary round, quarterfinal, semifinal and the final.
Wining the final was not always a surety during the match as Kensington restricted Westmoreland to 115 all out in 28.4 overs and threatened the score for a while as well as the lengthy rain delay during Kensington’s innings.
The match MVP, Westmoreland’s Humario Reid shouldered the batting when he scored 80 runs from 81 deliveries and was the only batsman to get into double figures. The bulk of the wickets went to Zachary Buchanan who took seven for 33 while Andrew Lloyd got two for 32.
Kensington started positively but lost its first wicket at 15 and then had a steady progression of batsmen returning to the pavilion, and was on seven for 27 at one point. There was a rain delay when they were in the thirties. They returned to the crease and steadied the inning but when they lost their eight wicket on 73, the writing was on the wall. They were eventually all out for 77 in 34.4 overs and lost the match by 38 runs to Westmoreland.
Kensington’s captain Andrew Lloyd was the main run getter with 45 while Abraham Waugh, the only other batsman to get into double figures contributed 14 runs. The wickets were shared among Jemar Morgan three for 12, captain Ryan Littleton three for 23 and Davere Buchanan two for 17.
Westmoreland’s coach Grantley Reid was very happy with the result.
“I am (happy) because we have been here before but we had to share. For the work that was put in because the journey did not begin with this competition. Most of the boys have been to quarter finals but we never made it through but I knew we had the depth to win this competition and they delivered. Even when we were in deep trouble, because at one point Kensington made a fight of the match. They played well to come back from where they were because we thought it would have been over before they reach 50 but they fought well. They played well. They had heart. They have a young team.”
The awards ceremony followed immediately after the match. There were several awards including the MVP for the final – Humario Reid, the teams’ MVPs – Westmoreland’s Ryan Littleton with 13 wickets and 236 runs and Kensington’s Abraham Waugh who bagged 21 wickets and 156 runs during the competition.
Some of the highlights recorded for this year were; four centuries (same as last year), 15 five-wicket hauls by 12 different bowlers and four batsmen scored over 200 runs each.
Simone Murdock, corporate services and client experience manager at Kingston Wharves was also happy with this year’s competition. “We are glad to see a successful year come to an end. As said in the (closing) ceremony we are finally returning to scores similar to the years before Covid so we are glad to see that we are on the right track and to celebrate with Westmoreland.”
The Jamaica Cricket Association’s president, Dr. Donovan Bennett who watched most of the final, promised a better competition going forward based on the association’s plans to increase its investment in junior level cricket.
“We are working hard to ensure that where we were pre Covid, that we get back there as soon as we possibly can.”
Pope hits ton as England impress on disrupted day one at The Oval
Stand-in captain Ollie Pope put his recent woes behind him with a magnificent century as England cruised to 221-3 on day one of the third Test versus Sri Lanka at The Oval.
Pope had overseen back-to-back victories at Old Trafford and Lord's in Ben Stokes' absence but had struggled with his own form, failing to score more than 17 runs in any of his four innings in the series to date.
Things turned around for him on Friday, though, as he helped the hosts build a handsome lead with six wickets still in hand ahead of day two.
England were initially frustrated by bad light during the morning session, with a delay of almost three hours ensuing after Ben Duckett helped the hosts to 80-1 following the early loss of Dan Lawrence (5).
Duckett counted nine fours and two sixes among his 86 runs off 79 balls before he scooped Milan Rathnayake's slow delivery into the waiting hands of Dinesh Chandimal.
Joe Root then struggled to match Duckett's pace and he walked for 13 off 48 balls when he sliced Lahiru Kumara's delivery straight to Asitha Fernando in the deep.
However, Pope took the reins from there and put his poor recent form behind him with a speedy ton off 102 balls, with bad light stopping play for the final time immediately after he brought up three figures with a four, much to the frustration of the home fans.
Pope (102 not out) and Harry Brook (8 not out) will resume at the crease on Saturday, as England target a 3-0 series whitewash and a perfect Test summer.
Data Debrief: Pope's redemption
Figures of 6, 6, 17 and 1 through his four innings with the bat had somewhat sullied Pope's experience of captaining England in this series, but the stand-in skipper had a far more positive experience on Friday.
He put recent criticism of his performances to one side with an assured knock, hitting 13 fours and two maximums to ensure England made the most of limited play.
It is his seventh Test century overall, and his third of 2024 after knocks of 121 versus West Indies in July and 196 in India in January. Only eight England batters have accomplished that feat, and Pope is the first to do so since Gary Ballance in 2014.
Inglis breaks Australia T20I record to confirm Scotland series win
Josh Inglis' record-breaking hundred helped Australia wrap up a series victory over Scotland, winning the second T20I by 70 runs at The Grange on Friday.
Inglis struck seven fours and seven sixes in a ruthless batting display, becoming the quickest player in Australian history to reach 100 runs in the 20-over format.
The tourists had earlier got off to a poor start with the bat as Travis Head was bowled out for a duck by Brad Currie (3-37) in the first over.
Jake Fraser-McGurk (16) would follow shortly after, only for Inglis to take control of proceedings as he reached his ton in just 43 balls, putting Australia in a strong position.
He would eventually fall victim to Chris Sole in the 18th over, with Cameron Green (36), Marcus Stoinis (20) and Tim David (17) helping to set Scotland a target of 197.
The hosts then found themselves with a mountain to climb, having seen four wickets fall before the halfway stage of their innings.
Brandon McMullen's knock of 59 offered Scotland a glimpse of a comeback, but the wickets continued to tumble as Stoinis (4-23) ripped through their lower order, sealing the triumph with the wicket of Chris Greaves (6).
Data Debrief: Record breaker Inglis
Inglis was the star of the show for the tourists, recording the quickest ton for Australia in T20Is, from just 43 deliveries.
He also recorded the joint-fastest century by a designated wicketkeeper-batter from a full-time nation, equalling South African Quinton de Kock's 43-ball hundred against West Indies in 2023.
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