Ollie Pope sees a ‘good opportunity’ for England to test themselves against Sri Lanka in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes
Ollie Pope sees ‘good opportunity to test ourselves’for the series against Sri Lanka, saying it is “still Stokesy’s team”. But he also suggested the next few weeks is a chance to prepare for a future without the 33-year-old all-rounder, who is recovering from a torn hamstring.
“That’s a great thing for the changing room to have and me to have,” Pope said. “He’s pretty clear that he wants me to go out and do my thing my own way, but he’s more than happy to talk things through when I want to lean on him. It’s great to have him around. None of the messages are going to be different, we’re not going to play any differently. I’ll just be getting similar messages across, in my own way.
Pope, who has been the team’s vice‑captain since last May, has played 24 of his 46 Tests with Stokes in charge and even if he were completely absent the all-rounder’s influence would be significant. “Having the vice-captaincy role has given me the opportunity to get my head around it if this opportunity came about,” Pope said.
Though he led Surrey eight times in the T20 Blast this year, Pope has been captain in one first-class game – a County Championship match against Glamorgan in 2021 when, promisingly, he posted the highest score of his career.
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