3 minute read
Sydney Sixers spinner Lloyd Pope says he aspires to play for Australia in all three formats after impressing in his side's BBL win over the Brisbane Heat.
Teen spin sensation Lloyd Pope has revealed his ambitions to play all three formats for Australia after reinforcing his status as a star in the making.
Pope, already branded the country's most promising legspin prospect since Shane Warne, announced he was ready to make the step up to the big time with a two-wicket effort in the Sydney Sixers' 79-run Big Bash League win over the Brisbane Heat.
He bamboozled Jimmy Peirson to have him stumped before bagging the prized wicket of Brendon McCullum.
It continues the meteoric rise of the red-headed cult spinner, who only turned 19 last month.
Pope said he'd had to work hard to keep himself ground after a whirlwind six months but was still aiming for the skies, saying he harboured a hunger to break into the Test, ODI and Twenty20 Australian sides.
"I don't know how far I will go but I definitely would love to play for Australia in all three formats," Pope said.
"That's every young cricketer's dream and I'm going to try my absolute hardest to get there.
"I have to work on a lot of things - all three facets."
He flashed up on the cricketing world's radar after taking 7-87 during the under-19 World Cup last year and further impressed with a seven-wicket haul during the first innings of South Australia's Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland in October.
However he struggled to cope with the pressure of playing in front of big crowds in his first two BBL appearances earlier in the season, going wicket-less against the Perth Scorchers and Sydney Thunder, before being dropped.
After former Test spinner Steve O'Keefe took him under his wing, Pope tinkered with his action and it paid dividends against the Heat at the SCG where he took 2-19.
"We've been working on a couple things in the nets, working on pace and length and things," Pope said.
"I really tried to work that out. My run up is a little bit longer and stuff like that - I don't know if you guys notice it. But it felt like a big change for me and it worked tonight."
