 Pope - dangerous in the field |
David Pope
Saqlain Mushtaq has a dart; Muttiah Muralitharan has a Doozra; Shane Warne has a Zooter. But none of them has anything as potent a weapon as Popey's speciality ball - the Doobler. It pitches on off stump drawing the batsman forward, then pitches again on middle-and-off, forcing the batsman into an ungainly swipe across the line, then hits middle. Although he hasn't quite recaptured his 2002 form this year, David still has some magic up his sleeve, back injury permitting.
A desperately reluctant batsman, he has struggled in the field except for one sublime moment in the 2001 season when he trapped the ball at mid off a la Tony Currie, then stooped and threw down the stumps in one sweep. The batsman hasn't stopped shaking since.
David is feared and revered in places as far apart as Buckhurst Hill and Croydon. The little maestro continued to pick up his share of wickets in 2004 but is still looking for that elusive first catch. Amazingly, hasn't been sought out by spin twin Alex Luke for tips and coaching (go on Alex, you know it makes sense).
Pope's stats 2005
Bowling
O R W Econ Avg SR 3 17 1 5.7 17.0 18.0
Pope's stats 2004
Bowling
O R W Econ Avg SR 27.4 150 7 5.4 21.4 23.7
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