Ollie Pope hailed Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale as his “lucky charm” after scoring the century that put England in control of the second Test against the West Indies.
Gunners fanatic Pope is friends with the England shot-stopper, fresh from a runners-up finish at the European Championship in Germany, and was more than happy to find him a seat at Trent Bridge when the request came in.
And Pope put on a show for the Premier League star, hitting 121 as England ran up 416 all out in an action-packed opening day.
Ramsdale was also in the stands last summer when Pope struck a double century against Ireland at Lord’s and, after being dropped twice on his way to three figures on Thursday, the Surrey batter was happy to enjoy his good fortune.
“I’m obviously a big Arsenal fan so I go and support him a fair bit. He seems to be my lucky charm on the cricket pitch as well!” said Pope.
“He’s come to two other games and in one of them I scored 200. It always happens to be the day he’s there that I get the runs, so I think he can come more often.
“He messaged me last night and I managed to sort out a couple of tickets for him. He loves his cricket and I love watching Arsenal play too. He sat with my family all day which was class for them.”
Pope accepted his sixth Test ton was far from flawless, with helping hands from Alick Athanaze on 46 and Jason Holder on 54, but was pleased to cash in after a lean time at the start of the county season.
“I’m happy with the way I went about my stuff and obviously there was a nice couple of drops, which always helps,” he said.
“No one means to drop them but cricket goes in swings and roundabouts. The luck wasn’t with me in my county stint. I wouldn’t say I had doubts but sometimes you think, ‘Why’s everyone else in the country scoring runs in county cricket but England’s number three isn’t going out and averaging 50 this summer?’
“That’s just cricket for you, you want to go and score a hundred every day but sometimes it doesn’t work that way.”
One of the highlights of a tough day for the tourists was Kevin Sinclair’s dismissal of Harry Brook, a moment he marked with an acrobatic somersault.
“That’s my trademark celebration, from where I come from,” said the Guyanese spinner.
“Whenever I get a wicket, I just do it for everyone from there. It all started at the tender age of eight, practising it over and over in the back garden. I know what I’m doing, I’ve perfected it over the years.”
Pope was sceptical about his side’s ability to match Sinclair’s athleticism, but nominated Shoaib Bashir as the likeliest candidate to make an effort.
“We were actually talking about that. We said Bash might try a roly-poly. I’m not sure we’ll see it but I think that’s as close as we’ve got in the England team.”