Lloyd Pope

Hairstyle similar to Shoaib Akhtar and bowling traits like Shane Warne, Lloyd Pope is an up and coming wrist-spinner who became a household name after ripping England at the U-19 Cricket World Cup. 

Pope has always been a celebrated prodigy since his childhood days. The spinner started working on the art of wrist spin from the age of eight years. As his career progressed, he started playing for North Queensland at age-group levels, representing them at U-17 and U-19s. 

Pope was called to don the Australian colours at the U-19 level to face Sri Lanka in 2017. Later, he won a rookie contract with South Australia for the 2017-18 season at age 17. The prodigy then earned a spot in the Australia U-19 World Cup squad for the 2018 tournament in New Zealand, where he tore the England batting apart with his wily spin to bag 8 for 35. 

In late 2018, the former U-19 cricketer bagged a Big Bash contract by Sydney Sixers at BBL|08. Since then, he has been a vital part of the Sixers team where he shares the dressing room with some elite Test cricketers - Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.

At 21, Pope has played over 11 Shield games and 20 BBL games to earn a name in the Australian domestic circles. The young spinner impressed various pundits including Shane Warne, as the legend himself called him for a session at Adelaide Oval to guide the fellow spinner. 

(As of November 2021)