Stephen Pope (cricketer)

Stephen Pope (born 25 January 1983 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) attended Cheltenham Bournside School & Sixth Form Centre, a comprehensive school. He represented England Schoolboys at both cricket and rugby as wicket keeper and scrum half. He was in the same rugby age group as Clive Stuart-Smith and they regularly battled for the number 9 shirt at English schoolboy level. Pope was known for his acceleration, box kicking and aggressive style of play on the rugby pitch.

Pope signed for Gloucestershire CC aged 16 and was identified as a potential successor for Jack Russell who he eventually trained and played with in the same team. He is a right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper who has played List A cricket since 1999 and played Twenty20 cricket during the 2003 season, helping Gloucestershire to the semi-finals. He was the Denis Compton Award winner in 2002. Pope played for England at the 2002 ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and youth Test Match series against West Indies and India.

In 2003 he played in 5 first-class matches for the county, who gained promotion that year to Division 1. Pope was released by Gloucestershire in 2003 after they decided they wanted a wicketkeeper who could bat in the top 8. After his release he trained with Old Patesians RFC as he considered a return to rugby. He signed a one-year contract for Surrey in 2006 playing in 1 List A match. Since retiring from cricket Pope has qualified as a PE teacher and moved to Australia. He regularly coaches cricket and also publishes guidance on cricket through the company CrickiTeacher.

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