Following a slow day of cricket by the current England team's standards on day one of the third Test at Lord's against India, batter Ollie Pope said that the pitch was "placid" after lunch and their opponents held their lengths well.
England were 251/4 at stumps on Day 1, with Root (99*) and skipper Stokes (39*) unbeaten. After a balanced first session, which saw Nitish Kumar Reddy strike twice, England largely dominated the next two with more traditional Test cricket as compared to their attacking 'Bazball' cricket, despite strikes from Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah.
With a run-rate of 3,02, it was a pretty slow day of cricket according to Bazball standards.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Pope, who scored 44, said, 'It was a very slow day, but credit to the way India bowled.
'I do not think the pitch offered loads after lunch, it was pretty placid, so India held their lengths well. I think 251-4 is a good score if we can kick on tomorrow.'
'It felt like you had to force the ball through, which in England were are not used to -- you usually get rewards for your cuts and clips,' he added.
Speaking at the post-match press conference Pope said: 'We want to be a team that is positive and entertaining, but we want to play to the situation.
'Our order is pretty fast scoring on our good days, we all know we can score hundreds off 120 balls, but we need to dig in off this sort of surface.'
'This wasn’t a surface where you could come out swinging. The Indian attack held their lengths and made it hard to score. We’re learning when to press the button and when to absorb pressure. It’s not about abandoning Bazball, it’s about evolving.'
Speaking on the ultra show pace of his innings on Thursday, Pope added: 'I didn’t even feel in rhythm today, to be honest. The ball was swinging before lunch, and the surface was spongy. You just had to ride it out.
'Not every innings needs to be flashy. This one demanded patience.'
Speaking of England decision to bat first, a rare call by captain Ben Stokes, Pope said, 'It’s 28 degrees in England. That’s rare. So we expected deterioration. The plan is to get 400-500 and let the pitch play tricks by Day 4 or 5.'
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