South Africa vs England 2019-20 | 6 biggest takeaways from the 4-Test series

#3 Curran and Pope prove their worth

Both Curran and Pope enjoyed success in this series

Sam Curran looks like a very innocuous bowler – without much pace or height. However, he seems to have that uncanny knack of picking up wickets that some bowlers possess. Most people would have thought of him as an unnecessary player in the squad.

But the medium-pacer performed really well and showed that he can contribute very effectively to the team’s cause. Though his batting didn’t shine much in this series, his bowling was surprisingly effective.

In the batting department, Ollie Pope justified the faith shown in his abilities by the selectors. Anyone who had seem him bat earlier would have noticed the immense talent he possessed. In this series, he turned that potential into performance and emerged as a very solid middle-order batsman as well as a very attractive strokemaker.

He could well emerge as the most talented batsman in the English team in the coming years. What would be interesting to see is where he bats in the line-up. Would England think of shifting him higher in the order or keep him at no. 5.

Whichever option they take, Pope is likely to succeed.