The Surrey man has never batted at No.3 in a first-class game before but his return to the Test team will see him thrust into an unfamiliar position
Ollie Pope is confident he has made the technical adjustments necessary to make a success of his new England position at No.3.
The Surrey has been confirmed to move up the order upon his return to the Test side for the New Zealand series that starts at Lord's on June 2.
Pope had never previously batted in that role but having returned to form - he's averaging 69.50 from the first five matches in LV= Insurance County Championship Division One - he is confident of making the most of the fresh start.
"A year or two ago, batting three I might have said ‘ooph, that’s high’," he told Evening Standard.
"But with the work I’ve done, I feel ready for that opportunity now.
"I know I haven’t done it [before], but the way I have been going about my innings this year my game is definitely suited to it.
"I feel I have the game to bat higher. I do think I’m ready for this challenge to get up the order and get my hands dirty, dictate the innings early, set up games."
After being in and out of the XI during the Ashes - playing the defeats in Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart, where he made scores of 35, 4, 5, 4, 14 and 5 and keeping wicket in Sydney in Jos Buttler's absence - Pope was a non-playing member of the West Indies Test squad.
The 24-year-old admits he paid the price for being too quick to try and make dramatic changes to his approach mid-way through the series in Australia and is eager to set the record straight.
Pope has wasted little time returning to form (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
"I tried to change too much, rather than stick with what I’m good at," he added.
"If I’m honest I was probably a bit muddled in my mind as to how I wanted to play.
"Because I tried to tinker with too many things mid-series, I was going into the game thinking about my feet, hands, rather than just watching the ball.
"I wouldn’t say I let the occasion get to me, but I tried to change things too quickly, rather than stick to what works for me and what I was doing.
"I learnt a lot from their batters about how to bat on those wickets. The amount they leave, how precise they are with how they are scoring.
"A massive part of me wishes I could go back and do it all again.
"Hopefully I can, because I look back and I kick myself a little bit with how I played because I tinkered too much with the basics of batting.
"Hopefully I look back at that experience come the end of the summer because I have a great chance to put things right now."
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