‘They just make comparisons because we are leg-spinners’: Prodigy Lloyd Pope shrugs off Shane Warne comparisons, loving the pressure of first-class cricket
LLOYD Pope’s youthful look wouldn’t be out of place on a Harry Potter film set. And while he shares an obsession with the leg-spin ‘trickery’ that spurred Shane Warne to 708 Test wickets, it’s the magic of a Strikers Big Bash star he is most keen to emulate.
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IN Lloyd Pope’s wonder world, rival prodigy Tom O’Connell’s exit to Victoria carried greater poignancy than billing as Shane Warne 2.0.
Pope’s wrong’un that spat square at New South Wales veteran Steve O’Keefe on Wednesday in Adelaide secured the South Australian’s maiden first-class wicket. Vision of the leg-spin debutant’s first-class arrival ignited on social media.
It was a splendid addendum to the leg-spinner’s extraordinary 8/35 for Australia during last January’s under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, which attracted global headlines.
Pope has been trumpeted as the leg-spin salvation Australia has craved since Warne’s Test retirement. However, the hype is lost on the redhead who was seven during Warne’s Ashes swan-song.
“They just make comparisons because we are leg-spinners. I guess when the next off-spinner comes through they will be called the next Nathan Lyon. That is how people grab on to spinners coming through,” reconciled Pope, fortunate to have former Redbacks spinners Aaron O’Brien and John Davison as mentors.
Pope’s youthful look wouldn’t be out of place on a Harry Potter film set and there is some magic at play here. He has an obsession with the leg-spin “trickery” that fuelled Warne’s aura over 708 Test wickets.
Pope’s stealth wrong’un ripped through England in Queenstown and into the consciousness of millions pining for another leg-spin maestro.
“When I was really young I was watching the Big Bash and videos of people not picking things and getting bowled and I loved that trickery. That really intrigued me,” said Pope who swapped seam bowling for spin six years ago.
“It took me quite a while to have it under my belt but loved bowling it, which helped.”
Pope was awarded a rookie Redbacks contract in May but Adelaide wouldn’t be big enough for the Kensington kid and left-arm, schoolboy wrist-spinner O’Connell. Pope and O’Connell were boom talents but behind established Adam Zampa in South Australia’s leg-spin queue.
Pressure makes Pope tick — essential for any leggie — and there was heat to perform after SACA declined to match Victoria’s three-year, $190,000 contract raid for 17-year-old O’Connell.
“He’s a great bowler and did well in JLT Cup in some games for Victoria,” noted Pope. “It was a pleasure playing with him and we learnt a lot off each other. He decided to pursue his career in Victoria and good luck to him. He is a little bit of a different bowler to me, has a good leg-spinner, gets some revs, all credit to him.”
“The advice to me was just back yourself,” said Pope.
While “it a huge honour being compared to Warne’, Pope is captivated by and relates to Afghan superstar Rashid Khan. Watching YouTube videos of Strikers leggie Rashid inspired Pope to develop “around five variations”.
“That performance against the West Indies was some of the stuff I loved watching,” said Pope of Rashid’s incredible 7/18 for Afghanistan in June last year.
“The way he bowled so quickly and getting elements of his game into my white ball cricket has helped me as well.”
Pope, who has played just two four-day games, is a fast learner but acutely aware of the pitfalls that have consumed young tweakers in the post-Warne era.
“The coaches said other spinners have tried to take too many things on and get a lot of pressure from other people to become Warnie. What he did was unique to him,” noted Pope.
What Warne and Pope share is a primal love of the big stage and moments.
“Pressure helps me to perform, I really like that aspect. If the team is in a pressure scenario, I like to be the one that takes the ball. The World Cup was a great experience,” said Pope.
He took more wickets in New South Wales’ first innings (2/55) than former Test spinner O’Keefe for the match but Pope’s Shield debut was a “big step up”.
Test opener Matt Renshaw and South Australian team-mate Alex Carey represented Australia within 12 months of National Performance Squad stints but Pope is no hurry.
“I just let things take their natural course,” said Pope, who spent the winter with the NPS in Brisbane.
“I am not in any rush to get a baggy green on my head quickly. I have a lot to improve on, my batting and fielding. There’s a lot of things that go into being a good cricketer.”
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