Forgotten leg spinner Lloyd Pope still dreams of playing cricket for ...

It is nearly two years since Lloyd Pope last played a Sheffield Shield match and yet the red-headed 24-year-old with a wicked "wrong un" still believes.

Key points:Lloyd Pope has taken 29 wickets in 13 first class matchesHe bowled Australia to victory in a World Cup U19 quarter final against England, taking 8-35Pope is currently a contracted player with the Redbacks in the Sheffield Shield and also plays for grade team Kensington

"I feel in a really good place at the moment, I feel like I'm young, I've got heaps more to learn, it's going to be an interesting next couple of years to see what happens," he said.

Few cricket lovers had heard his name before Pope was selected in the Australian squad for the under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand in 2018.

But everyone was soon sitting up and taking notice when he demolished England in a quarter final, taking 8-35 as they were skittled for just 96.

Pope made his first class debut for South Australia in the 2018-19 season and in his second match took 7-87 in an innings against Queensland, becoming the youngest bowler to take a seven wicket haul in the Sheffield Shield.

He followed that up by becoming the first leg spinner in 50 years to take a five-wicket haul on the opening day of a Shield season.

And yet he has now virtually disappeared off the first class scene, stuck behind off-spinner and aggressive lower order batter Ben Manenti in the Redbacks' side.

"I don't know if frustration's the right word, it's certainly a bit challenging," Pope said.

"I think credit to Ben, who's playing above me in the ones, I can't fault him, he won our player of the year, the Neil Dansie medal last year, so like what am I going to do there?"

In the meantime Pope is regularly taking wickets for the state's second XI team and suburban club Kensington and working on his craft.

"I want to strengthen my leggie, get that better," he said.

"I've got a good 'wrong un', but I want to get the leggie stock ball better, to bowl that more times than not."

Former leg spin bowler Cullen Bailey has been there and done that and fully knows the challenges that come with being a leg spin bowler.

Young leg spin bowler Will Bowering with mentor Cullen Bailey.(ABC News: Matthew Smith)

He played 31 first class matches for the Redbacks and at one time held a Cricket Australia contract and was hailed by some as a replacement for Shane Warne, before prematurely retiring in his mid twenties.

"Towards the end I was trying to play as an all-rounder, opening the batting and I had some success with that at grade cricket level, but I was probably never going to play again after that," he said.

Now the professional communications specialist mentors young leg spin bowlers like emerging 21-year-old Will Bowering.

Bailey said Pope could still make it in first class cricket.

"Lloyd seems to be a terrific young talent and he's got a terrific 'wrong un' and he seems to be full of energy and he's a real competitor," he said.

"He's still young at 24, he's still got an opportunity to master his craft and become a really significant force for South Australian cricket." 

Leg spin bowlers have always held a special place in the hearts of Australian cricket lovers for their ability to spin the national team to victory by bamboozling batters.

But since the heady days of Shane Warne and to a lesser extent Stuart MacGill, plenty of players have been hailed as the potential next best thing, before struggling to make it.

"It's technically difficult, bowling leg spin requires your wrist, your shoulder, your hips, everything to be kind of working together and then you've got a bloke at the other end trying to hit you out of the park," Bailey said.

Pope would not have it any other way.

"You go for a lot of sixes, it's fun though, everyone says it's a challenge and it is, but it's really fun and it's really rewarding,' he said.

"When you bowl well there's a reason why you do the hardest skill because if you nail it to the best of your ability, like jeez, it's hard to play." 

Coach Jason Gillespie has faith in Lloyd Pope's cricketing future.(AAP: David Mariuz)

Apart from grade cricket, where he's also working on his batting and fielding, Pope is treading water during the enforced Shield break for the Big Bash League.

Despite taking 19 wickets for the Sydney Sixers in past seasons, no franchise has offered him a deal.

"It's a little bit annoying, I feel like I'm bowling really well in T20," he said.

While Pope also is not being picked for Shield matches by Redbacks' coach Jason 'Dizzy' Gillespie, the former test fast bowler is holding the faith.

"He's a young man and he's in a craft that is notoriously one of the most challenging in our sport," Gillespie said in a media conference in May.

"We have a lot of faith and believe in Lloyd Pope and what he brings to the table, not just in the next year, but long term," he said.

 Lloyd Pope says he's still young enough to make his mark in Australian cricket.(ABC News: Che Chorley)

Even though he is not currently playing Shield cricket and is behind the likes of NSW spinner Tanveer Sangha and Mitch Swepson, Pope still has a fervent desire to play for Australia.

"I'd love to, I think you'd be stupid to play professional cricket and not think about playing for Australia," he said.

"That's the dream, I'd love to do that, got a lot of work to do, but there's still time.

"There's a few spinners in front of me that I need to try and climb the ladder, it's a good challenge, it's all part of it and I'm still having heaps of fun, hopefully in a few years that would be lovely."