Ollie Pope is one of the most technically gifted middle-order batters England have ever produced in this decade. Born on 2 January 1998 in Chelsea, Middlesex, he made his Test debut at Lord’s in August 2018 against India and has since accumulated 3732 Test runs across 64 matches at an average of 34.56.
He currently holds nine Test centuries to his name; each one scored against a different opponent, and made history in 2025 as the first Test cricketer to score centuries against eight different international sides. Despite these peaks, Pope has never represented England in either ODIs or T20Is at the international level, making Test cricket the exclusive arena for his international career.
Ollie Pope Stats: Test Career In Full
Pope has played 64 Test matches to date, accumulating 3,732 runs from 113 innings with 5 not outs, at an average of 34.56. His highest score in 2025, which he registered against Ireland in June 2023; the only double century of his Test career to date. Pope has hit 439 fours and 18 sixes across those innings, with nine centuries and 16 half-centuries.
Pope’s most recent Test appearance came at Adelaide Oval in December 2025 during the Ashes, where he scored just 3 runs off 10 balls; a stark contrast to the consistent form he had shown earlier in the year. Pope is currently ranked 37th in the ICC Test batting rankings with 592 points.
The journey to nine Test centuries has been anything but smooth. In 2025, during England’s first innings of the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against India, Pope scored a century; his third consecutive hundred and ninth in total. Before that, in a one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge in 2025, Pope struck 171 off 166 balls and became the first Test cricketer to score centuries against eight different international sides.
As a fielder and a part-time wicketkeeper, Pope has taken 57 catches in the field, alongside 22 dismissals and one stumping behind the stumps. He has captained England in five Tests, winning three and losing two.
Why has Pope never played an ODI or T20I for England?
This surprises a significant number of cricket fans. Despite being among England’s most consistent Test batters, Pope has so far represented England only in the Test format. The white-ball selectors have consistently looked elsewhere, favouring specialist limited-overs players throughout the Jos Buttler era and now the Harry Brook era. Pope’s name does not appear in any ODI or T20I squad during this period, and England are now deep into a post-Buttler rebuild across both formats. A late call-up to either white-ball format remains possible but far from certain, given the talent available to the selectors.
Ollie Pope Stats: Domestic T20 Career
Pope has been a regular contributor in franchise and county T20 cricket. Across 86 domestic T20 matches, he has scored 767 runs with a highest score of 93 and an average of 33.00, striking at 79 per 100 balls. He has recorded seven half-centuries in the format, representing Surrey in the Vitality Blast and appearing for the Welsh Fire and London Spirit in the Hundred. Pope’s last domestic T20 appearance came for Surrey against Northamptonshire at the Oval in September 2025.
His T20 numbers tell the story of a batter who contributes without dominating; useful, reliable, occasionally explosive, but clearly a player whose potential is in the longest format.
The Peaks: Pope’s Finest Test innings
Pope’s Test career has been punctuated by innings of genuine brilliance alongside stretches of fluctuating inconsistency. His maiden Test century, an unbeaten 135 against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in January 2020, announced him as a serious prospect. During the 2022 English summer under Ben Stokes, Pope scored 791 runs in 12 Tests at a strike-rate of 73.04, including two centuries, which cemented his place at number three and earned him the unofficial vice-captaincy.
In September 2025, following concerns over his form, Pope was stripped of the vice-captaincy ahead of the 2025-26 Ashes, with Harry Brook replacing him in the role. England’s managing director, Rob Key, subsequently declined to confirm whether Pope’s Test place was safe. The Ashes series that followed was difficult for him personally; a reflection of how quickly fortunes shift in high-stakes Test cricket.
First-Class Record: The foundation beneath the Ollie Pope Stats
Pope’s domestic first-class numbers make his Test average look conservative by comparison. In 2018, he averaged 70.42 across Surrey’s County Championship-winning campaign, accumulating 684 runs in Division One. In 2019, he finished as Surrey’s highest run-scorer with 812 runs at an average of 101 across just nine innings. Wikipedia Following the disrupted 2020 season, he returned in 2021 to score 861 runs at 78.27 for the county, including a career-best 274 against Glamorgan.
Those figures, an average above 100 in a season, then 78.27 the following year, make it plain that the raw talent has never been in doubt. The gap between county production and Test consistency is the central challenge of Pope’s career, one that selectors, coaches, and supporters continue to watch closely.
Form, Controversy, and What Comes Next?
ESPNcricinfo noted after Pope’s Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy century in 2025 that he must now prove himself a far better, hungrier player than a Test average in the mid-30s might suggest, particularly with his 27th year representing his expected prime. Veteran cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Brett Lee, and Kevin Pietersen have compared Pope’s technique to that of Ian Bell, a compliment that carries both high praise and an implicit warning, given that Bell, for all his elegance, spent years battling questions about whether his numbers matched his obvious gifts.
Final Take
The Ollie Pope stats picture is one of talent confirmed, but potential not yet fully realised. Nine Test centuries, 3,732 runs, and a first-class average that places him among the most prolific batters of his generation in county cricket, yet a Test average hovering just above 34 tells you the story is still being written. He is 28 years old, approaching the years when most top-order batters produce their best cricket, and England’s Test schedule through 2026 gives him every opportunity to push that average significantly higher.
Do you think Pope can cement himself as a 40-plus average Test batter by the end of 2026, or will the inconsistency that has defined his career so far continue to hold him back? Drop your thoughts in the comments. We would love to hear where you think his ceiling lies.
