England batter Ollie Pope believes that the side can surpass the 600-run mark within a single day of Test cricket by maintaining their ultra-aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach at the crease. The approach, however, came under scrutiny when the English team were hammered 4-1 during their tour of India earlier this year, but Pope stressed on a ruthless approach to tame the opposition.

Pope believes that the Ben Stokes’ led outfit has the ability to eclipse the current record, also held by England, but it came way back in 1936, when they slammed 588/6 on the second day of the Manchester Test against India.

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“Sometimes we might score 280 to 300 in a day but that’s OK and probably because we’re reading situations. There might also be a day where we go and get 500 to 600 at some point in the future as well. And that’s a cool thing to have,” Pope said.

Pope scored his sixth Test century when named Player of the Match in England’s dominant 241-run triumph over the West Indies in Nottingham last week, a contest that saw England score in excess of 400 runs in both innings for the first time in their history.

With a series whitewash over the West Indies now the aim when the third and final Test commences in Birmingham on Friday, Pope has urged his teammates to remain ruthless and continue their climb up the ICC World Test Championship standings.

“There’s a real hunger – there always is a hunger – but now there’s an extra bit in that batting line-up. We want to be as ruthless as we can as a batting unit, but still play the way we do because that’s our natural game. Obviously being ruthless is being part of Test cricket as well,” he said.

Pope’s innings of 121 at Trent Bridge came from 167 deliveries, a somewhat patient knock by the 26-year-old in comparison to many of his previous centuries at Test level as England posted a big total of 416 on the opening day’s play.

England ushered in a new era under coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes when they smashed 506 runs on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022 and Pope thinks similar high-scoring days like that are not beyond his side.

“I got asked on day one ‘do you get told to play like that?’. No, we don’t. It’s just our natural games and the way we go about it,” Pope said on his side’s ability to score 600 runs in a day.

The last year have been significantly troubling for England in red-ball cricket, with the side drawing the Ashes series against Australia 2-2, and failing to deliver in arguably their toughest overseas challenge in India, conceding a 1-0 lead in five-match series to lose the next four on the trot.