If Ollie Pope is metamorphosising into historic Lloyd Pope then which Pope is modern day Lloyd Pope becoming?

2 minute read

England have stuck with Ollie Pope as their number three batter. However, growing numbers of people are worried that he’s metamorphosising into Australian leg-spinner, Lloyd Pope – or at least the version of Lloyd Pope from seven years ago. 

At the start of the summer, Ben Stokes seemed to momentarily forget that you aren’t allowed to add a player to your team without also removing one. He duly repackaged his, “put two and two together, you probably know what’s going to happen,” comment about Jacob Bethell’s selection as being a reference to merely including him in a squad. Then he went and told Ollie Pope he had nothing to worry about and Ollie Pope went and made a hundred. 

All well and good – except look at Pope now! 

Specifically, look at that hair. You’ll get a clearer view of it this week. 

It strikes us that while he isn’t quite there yet, he’s clearly en route to this: 

This can’t be good. Lloyd Pope’s first-class batting average is 6.00 with a highest score of 17. That’s not really what you need when Zak Crawley’s fallen over a straight one and been rapped on the pads.

It’s also worth highlighting that the above photo is of Lloyd Pope seven years ago. The Lloyd Pope of today is a very different beast. The Lloyd Pope of today is a baldy, beardy beast.

If Ollie is becoming Lloyd, then which Pope is Lloyd becoming? What other Popes are there? Are the papal transmogrification options limited to other active professional cricketers? 

Perhaps there are clues in the direction of travel. Based on the evidence, it seems incredibly safe to assume that there’s a finite volume of Pope hair in the world, which means that as Ollie’s hair continues to lengthen, Lloyd’s beard will unavoidably contract, as by this point he has little room for manoeuvre up top.

Where will that take him? Do you know any hairless cricketing Popes?

The England v India Test series starts tomorrow.