Lloyd Pope’s resurgence from Under-19 leg-spin prodigy to Australian white-ball prospect

Lloyd Pope wasn’t the first spinner to be touted the next Shane Warne. But as quickly as his star rose, it faded. TIM MICHELL finds out how he rebuilt his career to become a BBL star.

An hour of cricket chaos turned Lloyd Pope into an oversight sensation.

With his long red hair flowing and Australia’s Under-19 World Cup on the brink, the South Australian leg-spinner took 8-35 from 57 balls in a quarter-final against England.

It was a performance which led news bulletins and to inevitable comparisons to the king of spin Shane Warne.

But just as quickly as his star rose, Pope faded from the national stage.

Pope went from taking five wickets in a tour match against Pakistan in 2019 to toiling for his grade side Kensington in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs.

“A couple of years ago he was left out of the SA side,” Kensington’s First XI captain Josh Doyle said.

“He’s someone that we want to back in and give the best opportunity to get back into those teams. Bowling overs would (do) that.

“He’s so good for us and does a good job. Definitely a part of it was us trying to get the best out of him and the best out of himself (to earn) higher honours.”

WATCH: #OnThisDay in 2018, Lloyd Pope registered the best bowling figures in all ICC #U19CWC!

His 8/35 bowled England out for 96 with Australia sealing a convincing 31-run win. pic.twitter.com/yfGDJ6XlY5

— ICC (@ICC) January 23, 2019

Rather than the big stages he was touted for after those Under-19 World Cup heroics, Pope has become accustomed to bowling for South Australia’s Second XI in recent summers.

The 25-year-old’s first-class record flatters to deceive.

He has taken 41 wickets in 16 Shield games at an average of 53.8 and been surpassed in the Test pecking order by spinners including Todd Murphy, Matt Kuhnemann and Corey Rocchiccioli.

Instead, Pope has enjoyed his second coming as a cricketer with the white-ball.

After a summer and a half without a Big Bash contract, Pope signed as a local replacement player for Adelaide Strikers in January last year.

The day before he was due to take to Kensington Gardens Oval against Adelaide University, Pope’s rebirth as a BBL player started.

He was thrown straight into the Strikers team on the day his signing was announced, taking the prized scalps of Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie and announcing himself to Australian cricket for the second time.

“We knew that he had a lot of potential,” former Strikers coach Jason Gillespie said.

“Where I think his development has come, and this is transcending different formats, he has played a lot of four-day cricket but it has all been in Second XI on deteriorating pitches.

“He’d ideally like to be playing Shield cricket but there wasn’t a spot for him. But we kept re-signing him and I kept talking to him a lot about, ‘just be ready when your time is there’.”

Lloyd Pope lets rip for the Strikers. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Pope bowling for Australia at the Under-19 World Cup.

Teammate Cameron Boyce was the only spinner who took more wickets than Pope in BBL13 despite him being a mid-season addition.

Pope’s resurgence has taken place off-Broadway and out of the spotlight many expected his career to be lived in when he skittled an England line-up led by future Test star Harry Brook in Queenstown seven years ago.

“He was bowling 50+ overs every Second XI game,” Gillespie said.

“So you play six, seven Second XI games and he was getting 300+ overs, plus his club cricket overs where he would just bowl from one end.

Pope early in his Sheffield Shield career for South Australia.

Pope prepares to make his Shield debut in 2018.

“He’s developing his game in the long form, admittedly in Second XI and club cricket. Leg-spinners in particular develop at different times.

“Not everyone can be like Warnie and start dominating (at) age 23 in Test cricket. Sometimes it takes time to develop.”

Pope returned without the wild red locks but with greater control and a renewed drive to make the most of his undoubted talents.

“It’s testament to how he’s been managed,” Gillespie said.

“The confidence that was shown in him from South Australia to keep him on the list for a number of years while he hadn’t necessarily played much Shield cricket.

“To keep his development going knowing he would develop at a different rate to some other players.

“South Australia has invested a lot of time since he was 18 years old. Invested in him as a contracted player. Now he’s in his mid-20s and he’s just starting to come into his own.”

Pope in the Adelaide Oval stands in December, 2017.

And bowling for his first BBL franchise Sydney Sixers. Picture. Phil Hillyard

No spinner has taken more BBL wickets than Pope since his Strikers debut on January 5 last year.

The highlights reels will show big hitters Daniel Sams (31 runs off one over) and Josh Brown (20 runs) took a liking to Pope’s fearless bowling.

Rather than focus on where he could be hit to, Pope’s first thought is how he can take wickets.

And, it has paid off in spades.

In the other 18 overs he has bowled in BBL14, Pope has taken eight wickets and conceded an average of only 7.2 runs.

“What he’s been doing in the Big Bash we’ve been seeing for the last six or seven years,” Doyle said.

“It’s so good to see him fulfilling his potential and representing our club in such a great way that he always does.”

Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar have long been Australia’s preferred white-ball spinners.

But at 25, Pope represents the next generation.

When Australia’s selectors next have to decide on a T20 squad, Gillespie has no doubt Pope’s name will be discussed.

“Lloyd has to take a lot of credit for that because he was given some pretty honest feedback about what to do to improve in all facets of the game,” Gillespie said.

“Batting, bowling, fielding. He’s taken all that on board and you’re seeing the benefits.”

Doyle agrees.

“He can’t be far off. He’s bowling so well and it’s good to see him consistently taking wickets,” he said.

“We would love to see him playing at that level and I have no doubt he’d do a really good job if he was to get that opportunity.”

Originally published as Lloyd Pope’s resurgence from Under-19 leg-spin prodigy to Australian white-ball prospect