Saqlain Mushtaq has a dart; Muttiah Muralitharan has a Doosra; Shane Warne has a Zooter. But none of them has anything as potent a weapon as David Pope's speciality ball - the Doobler. It pitches on off stump drawing the batsman forward, then pitches again on middle-and-off, forcing the batsman into an ungainly swipe across the line, then hits middle. A desperately reluctant batsman, he has struggled in the field except for one sublime moment in the 2001 season when he trapped the ball at mid off a la Tony Currie, then stooped and threw down the stumps in one sweep. The batsman hasn't stopped shaking since. David is feared and revered in places as far apart as Buckhurst Hill and Croydon.
We were all sad when David hung up his Dodgers boots in 2009 so those who took up that bet (a double with Russell Brand to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury) with Ladbrokes on him taking his first catch are gonna be SOL*.
David was honoured with the prestigious Life Membership at the AGM in 2009.
2009 Bowling O M R W SR Avg Econ 10 0 119 0 -- -- 11.90 Batting and fielding M I R NO Avg HS 50 100 Ct St 3 1 1 1 -- 1 0 0 0 0 All-Time Bowling M O R W Avg SR Econ Best 74 248.2 1782 55 32.40 27.09 7.18 3-3 Batting and fielding M I NO R Avg 50 100 HS C St 74 27 9 24 1.33 0 0 5* 0 0
* - shit outta luck
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