At the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, Pope hit a fine 77 after coming in at number six, while sharing a fifth-wicket partnership of 151 with Harry Brook, who hit an unbeaten 132, as England ended day two at 319\/5, and 29 runs behind New Zealand\u2019s 348, especially after being 71\/4 at one point.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I didn't get Stewy throwing balls on the dog stick. He's too high up for that, I think. I had an open discussion with him rather than an array of sessions in the nets. It's probably healthy to talk to someone from outside who's been watching you.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Sometimes that's a nice opinion to have. I gained a lot from going back and talking to him. It was more about 'what does it look like when I'm at my best?', because that was a frustrating thing - I wasn't getting to 20 or 30, to allow myself to go on to that big score.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"We talked about having that calmness at the crease. When I'm playing well there's that clarity in how I want to play, not trying to rush my way to 20 or 30. Pakistan wasn't an easy tour and I wasn't good enough to find a way.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"For me, it was really important to draw a line under it. I knew if I could get in the right headspace I could start the series strongly. Fortunately, I've done that and hopefully I can kick on and score a lot more runs in this series,\" said Pope to reporters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He also said about his intention to continue batting at number three in Tests, though for this game, debutant Jacob Bethell was slotted there. \"I want to be number three, I want to keep trying to make it mine. I've had too many low scores there but I've also managed to put together some good knocks this year batting at three.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"It's a job I want to do going forward and I think my skillset is still developing. It's definitely a job I want to keep doing. If I was batting at three, I'd have tried to play exactly the same way as today. The biggest difference at three is you set the tone a lot more, if you play well you can put your team in a really strong position.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He also said about his intention to continue batting at number three in Tests, though for this game, debutant Jacob Bethell was slotted there. \"I want to be number three, I want to keep trying to make it mine. I've had too many low scores there but I've also managed to put together some good knocks this year batting at three.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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