The clock struck 11.42am when a new chapter in English cricket began. Never before had Ollie Pope walked to the crease so early in an innings. Just 50 legitimate deliveries had been sent down by the India attack when Pope embarked on the fabled walk through the Long Room towards the middle at Lord’s for his first international combat. With applause rippling around the famous old ground, Joe Root, his captain and third-wicket partner, met him on the journey. Ollie Pope stepped up to the crease for the first time for England on day three against India He was met on his journey to the middle by Joe Root, who also made his debut at a young age One suggestion was that he was verifying the age of England’s new No 4 to the gate man. Twenty he may be, but Pope could comfortably pass for younger. Jokes aside, Root, a thoughtful and caring man as well as an astute cricketer, would have wanted to give Pope his blessing as someone thrust into a similar situation in the past. Root was just a few months older when he made his international bow in India in 2012. The act of reassurance would have settled any lingering nerves for a batsman more accustomed to batting two places lower but identified by national selector Ed Smith as having the attributes to cope with a significant promotion. Pope made a confident start to his maiden England Test innings, striking the ball fluently Indeed, the earliest Pope had taken guard in his 15 previous first-class matches was the 23rd over of Surrey’s crushing win over Yorkshire in May, when Root looked on from the field. Pope’s unbeaten 158 was to prove influential in his short-term future. The way he began on Saturday in front of a 28,500 crowd suggested he possesses the temperament for a fruitful long-term one, too. While Root scratched away at the other end, Pope took on board Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart’s advice to do things his own way with some fluent striking. A flick off the pads second ball danced to the ropes to draw a boyish grin. Indeed, such was Pope’s application that it was a surprise when, having kept the scoreboard ticking with regular tucks to the onside, he played around a delivery from seamer Hardik Pandya. The start was promising. The challenge now is to prove it was not a false one.<doc-sep>Ollie Pope has been chosen for England despite having played only 15 first-class matches Just recently, it has been the case that if England think you are good enough, then you are very definitely old enough. When Ollie Pope takes his place in the middle order for the second Test against India at Lord's on Thursday, he will become the third England debutant in four matches to be aged 20 or under, following Dom Bess and Sam Curran. Of the three, it is 20-year-old Pope's ascent that has been the quickest. In 2016, he was still playing school cricket for Cranleigh. His last game of club cricket in the Surrey Championship was little more than a year ago. The right-hander has had a prolific summer - his 684 runs in Division One of the County Championship bettered only by Surrey team-mate Rory Burns - following a similarly successful winter in Australia. In the notoriously tough Sydney First Grade competition, Pope racked up 994 runs for Campbelltown-Camden, a club that counts former England spinner Monty Panesar among its former players. It was while staying in Campbelltown, about an hour's drive from the Sydney Cricket Ground, that he learned not only about cricket, but also laundry and nature. "He had his own space that I called the Vatican, because that's where the Pope sleeps," said Campbelltown-Camden club secretary Jason Ellsmore, with whom Pope lived. "When it came to laundry, he didn't realise that in Australia we let our clothes dry outside. He asked me where the dryer was. His first life lesson was how to use a washing line. "Another time, his parents came over for a holiday and they went on a bush walk in the Blue Mountains. "They met a brown snake on a pathway. I'd said to him before that if you see a brown snake, you go the other way, because it can kill you. I think he just thought it was a stick." Such was Pope's impact on and off the field for Campbelltown-Camden that, when he left, he received a commendation in the New South Wales parliament from MP Chris Patterson, who is also the club's vice-president. In response, NSW minister for sport Stuart Ayres said: "It is a rare moment that a New South Wales member of parliament speaks with such passion about an Englishman." As well as that lofty recognition, Pope left a lasting impression on the Ellsmore household. "There was one time when I was cooking a roast dinner and he said: 'Have you ever heard of Yorkshire pudding?' I said I've heard of it, but I don't know how to cook it," said Ellsmore. "The next time we had a roast dinner, there was Yorkshire pudding on the plate. He said: 'You can't have a roast dinner without Yorkshire pudding.' "He missed the dogs he had at home, so looked after mine. He was happy around the barbecue with the other lads from the team, or sitting watching sport in the lounge with the dogs on his lap." When Pope learned of his England call-up, Ellsmore was one of the first people he called. "I was particularly touched that I got a phone call from him on Sunday night," he said. "It was funny because he asked about my daughters, the dogs and how I was going. Right at the very end he said: 'By the way, I've got some news.' "He knew how happy I was. It's a shame that I can't be there on Thursday. Hopefully he's in the team for the Ashes next summer. I told him to make himself part of the furniture." Pope, who can also keep wicket, has made himself "part of the furniture" in the Surrey team despite having played only 14 first-class matches for the county. In that time, he has made four centuries, including one in his second match against Hampshire and 158 not out against a Yorkshire side captained by England skipper Joe Root. It was also against Yorkshire that Pope made his senior debut for Surrey in the semi-finals of the 2016 One-Day Cup, just weeks after leaving Cranleigh School. He made 20 from 23 balls. Ollie Pope (second left) was pictured with Sam Curran, Ryan Patel and Amar Virdi on a Surrey youth tour in 2013 and again when the quartet played together in the first team "I thought that his best route would have been in the shorter formats," said Cranleigh director of cricket Stuart Welch. "In one game against Tonbridge, he scored 120 with ramps and scoops, looking head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch." Pope, who also played football and hockey for the school's first XI, needed special permission from Cranleigh to play for the Surrey second team. "It was clear that he would play international cricket at some stage, although maybe not this early," added Welch, who has also coached the MCC's Young Cricketers. "I've seen the likes of Alex Tudor, Hamish Marshall and Ross Taylor come through. I'd put Ollie in the top 5% of all the youngsters I've encountered." As well as Cranleigh, Pope spent his formative years at Guildford, one of the largest clubs in Surrey that also produced Ashley Giles, Rikki Clarke, Jade Dernbach and the Bicknell brothers. He made his first XI debut in 2013 at the age of 15. In the same year, he was part of a Surrey youth tour to South Africa that included Curran, as well as current Surrey team-mates Ryan Patel and Amar Virdi. The quartet were pictured in Cape Town and again four years later when they played together for the Surrey senior team. Both pictures are pinned to the top of Pope's Twitter page. Now, Pope and Curran are set to line up for England at Lord's - Curran on the back of a man-of-the-match performance in the first Test at Edgbaston, Pope with a first-class batting average of 63.25. If you're good enough, you're old enough.<doc-sep>It is bold of England’s selectors to make changes after the inspiring 31-run victory at Edgbaston, and not simply the enforced one but two. Surrey’s uncapped Ollie Pope comes in for Dawid Malan and Chris Woakes replaces the otherwise engaged Ben Stokes. Given Malan’s limited footwork and first-class average of 37, however, it is improbable that he has a long-term Test career ahead of him, and it is better to blood the 20-year-old Pope in a position of strength. Pope has looked the complete package when batting for Surrey this season. The county have long been talking up Ben Foakes, but Pope is already a better red-ball batsman, being more compact, while Foakes – five years older – is much the better wicketkeeper. Pope has also made an unbeaten fifty for England Lions against India A last month, taking his first-class average up to 63, which – even when making allowances for the Oval as the best batting venue in the country – is an accurate indication of class. Nothing however has fully prepared Pope for the challenge of facing Ravichandran Ashwin. His 50 came against Ashwin’s deputy for India A, Jayant Yadav, an off-spinner of four Tests but without the same range of microscopic variations which Ashwin has – not to mention that bounce which snared Joe Root in Ashwin’s leg-trap in the second innings at Edgbaston.<doc-sep>
Last updated on .From the section Cricket Ollie Pope (right) has played only 15 first-class matches England v India, second Specsavers Test Venue: Lord's Dates: 9-13 August Coverage: Ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, Radio 4 LW, online, tablets, mobiles and BBC Sport app. Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website. Surrey batsman Ollie Pope will make his England debut in the second Test against India at Lord's on Thursday. Pope, 20, replaces Dawid Malan and will bat at number four, despite usually batting at six for his county. England will wait to decide on their final XI, with Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes vying for one spot. "I'm going to keep our options open and make sure that we're really confident we've got the best 11 players to take 20 wickets," said captain Joe Root. England, who have a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, dropped Malan after the thrilling 31-run win at Edgbaston. Pope's inclusion means he is the fourth player under the age of 21 to play a Test for England this year, after Mason Crane, Dom Bess and Sam Curran. He is the second highest run-scorer in Division One of the County Championship, with 684 runs at an average of 85.50. "We feel he's got a very good game on him that can transfer into Test cricket and be successful at number four," Root told BBC Sport. "I'm really excited to see him go out there and be himself, more than anything else, and go out and play exactly how he has done." Moeen or Woakes? There was still a hint of green on the Lord's pitch despite the recent hot weather, although it was kept covered for much of Wednesday. With Ben Stokes absent because of his trial for affray in Bristol, England will have to decide between off-spinner Moeen and all-rounder Woakes to complete the final XI. Woakes, who featured against Pakistan at Lord's in May, has played just two first-class matches since injuring his right quad and thigh in June. Moeen took eight wickets for Worcestershire in his last first-class game, including a second innings 5-107, but he has struggled for runs since last summer. Root took a blow to his hand in the nets while facing Woakes but said he was "absolutely fine" and managed to complete his practice. "We want to wait and see what it looks like - see if they take any more off that surface and see how dry it is," Root said. "We'll turn up tomorrow, see if it looks any different and then make that decision." Root strives for consistency England have won just four of their past 10 Tests at Lord's, including their nine-wicket defeat by Pakistan in May. They have struggled for consistency at home under Root, beating South Africa by 211 runs in the first Test at Lord's last year before being thrashed in the next match at Trent Bridge by 240 runs. Root said that England's tight victory at Edgbaston had "filled me with confidence" as a captain. "The composure we kept throughout that last morning was outstanding and will hold us in good stead for the rest of the series," he said. "It's about backing that up now and being more consistent in back-to-back games, and now we've got an opportunity to do that." The hosts also lost to India on a green pitch at Lord's in 2014, with their batting collapsing on the final day to hand the visitors a 95-run win. "We still had an opportunity to win that game on the last day and batted poorly," Root added. "Over the last couple of years we've had a few different surfaces here, so we've kept quite an open mind going into tomorrow. "I thought we performed exceptionally well with the ball last week and that's a good sign that early in a series." Kohli gives Pope advice - of sorts India came close to victory at Edgbaston but, like England, their batting faltered at key moments, despite captain Virat Kohli top-scoring in both innings. The tourists could play two spinners at Lord's, with either wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav or left-armer Ravindra Jadeja coming into the side. Kohli admitted Pope, who has played just 15 first-class matches, is a relative unknown for his side. "I honestly haven't seen him, but I'm sure if he's selected to play Test cricket for England then he's obviously going to be very good," the 29-year-old said.