Ollie Pope has vowed that England's batters will maintain an aggressive approach as they seek to complete a Test series sweep against the West Indies. The team believes they could potentially score 600 runs in a single day.
England has already secured a 2-0 lead in the series, following a dominant innings victory at Lord's and a convincing 241-run triumph at Trent Bridge. The Nottingham win marked the first time England had scored over 400 runs in both innings of a Test, with totals of 416 and 425.
As the final Test begins at Edgbaston on Friday, with the Botham-Richards Trophy already reclaimed, vice-captain Pope assured that the team's hunger for runs remains undiminished. He emphasised that the batting lineup is focused on being as ruthless as possible, without straying from their natural aggressive style, which has become their hallmark.
Pope was one of three English players to score centuries in the second Test, alongside Joe Root and Harry Brook. He acknowledged that while there are times when the team may need to manage their innings more conservatively, their instinctive attacking play has become second nature.
Pope, 26, also speculated that England could break the record for the most runs scored in a single day of Test cricket, a record currently held by Sri Lanka with 509-9 against Bangladesh in July 2002. England narrowly missed surpassing this record against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in December 2022, falling just three runs short.
Pope explained that the team is not explicitly instructed to play aggressively; rather, it is a natural part of their game. He noted that while there might be days, where they score between 280 and 300 runs, they are also capable of achieving much higher totals, possibly even reaching 500 to 600 runs in a day, which he described as an exciting prospect.