Ollie Pope Archives

Pope reacts to England players’ e-scooter incident

England vice-captain Ollie Pope has advised his team-mates to ‘wear a helmet’ after they were caught riding e-scooters in Brisbane with protection.

England arrived in Brisbane ahead of the pink-ball Ashes Test last Wednesday after losing the opening match of the series inside two days.

However, England captain Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, and Jamie Smith were photographed riding e-scooters without helmets, highlighting the media scrutiny since their arrival in Australia.

Under Queensland law, all riders of e-scooters must wear a helmet, with riders without a helmet facing a fine of up to 166 Australian dollars (£82).

Speaking to the media ahead of the second Test, Pope advised England players to abide by the rules.

“Just put a helmet on next time. Rules are rules,” said Pope.

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He called the break vital for players and recalled the COVID-19 restrictions during their previous Ashes tour down under.

“Just put a helmet on next time. Rules are rules. For us as cricketers and as people, it’s important to try and be able to switch off and be yourself,” he said.

Locking your doors and not coming out of your room is the unhealthy thing to do, as we saw in Covid times. Whatever you’re doing in your off time, whether it’s just taking your mind away from cricket for a day or two, that’s really important,” he added.

“If they want to catch us doing that, then so be it. It is important to have that balance on a long tour like this,” Pope concluded.

For the unversed, England are 1-0 down after losing the Ashes opener against Australia by eight wickets at Perth, courtesy of Travis Head’s blistering century.

Head hit a whirlwind 69-ball century and went on to make 123 off just 83 balls, which made a mockery of England’s 205-run target.

The second day-night Ashes Test will commence on Thursday, with three lions eyeing their first victory against Australia down under since 2010.

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McCullum hints Brook could replace Pope as Ashes vice-captain

England coach Brendon McCullum has left open the possibility of Harry Brook replacing Ollie Pope as vice-captain during the upcoming Ashes tour of Australia.

Pope officially took on the role in May 2023 after securing his place as England’s number three in Test cricket, and has since led the team five times when inspirational skipper Ben Stokes has been absent through injury.

Stokes is back training following a shoulder problem, but his coach at county side Durham, Ryan Campbell, was “not 100 percent sure” the all-rounder would feature in all five Tests against Australia, with England bidding for their first Ashes series win since 2015.

Doubts have been raised about Pope’s tactical acumen, with England white-ball captain Brook regarded as a more proactive leader in the field.

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And should Stokes be ruled out of a Test during the Ashes series, which starts on November 21 in Perth, the 26-year-old Brook could now be asked to lead England in red-ball cricket as well.

McCullum, asked Sunday whether Pope will take up his usual role as Stokes’ deputy in Australia, replied: “We will work on that one. We will chat about that over the coming days as we finalise our Ashes squad.

“I think it’s a pretty easy squad to pick. We don’t need too big a squad, but we have a very settled group of batters, a cartel of fast bowlers, and Shoaib Bashir as our frontline spinner.”

The former New Zealand captain, speaking after England’s third and deciding T20 against South Africa in Nottingham, which was washed out without a ball being bowled, added: “I think it’s no secret Harry Brook is emerging as a leader within English cricket, so that’s something we need to work out.”

READ: Former Pakistan captain slams India over handshake controversy

Pope hails Pakistan thrashing as ‘special win’ for England

Captain Ollie Pope hailed England’s milestone-laden first Test thrashing of Pakistan in Multan on Friday as “a special win”.

England played their trademark aggressive cricket to amass the fourth-highest Test total of 823-7 declared, spurred by a Harry Brook and Joe Root’s record partnership.

Brook’s masterful 317 alongside Root’s record-breaking 262 — that made him England’s highest Test run scorer — gave the visitors a 267-run lead.

England’s bowlers, led by spinner Jack Leach then set to work demolishing Pakistan’s batting line-up on a lifeless track.

“Everyone knows what a special win that was,” said Pope after Leach bagged all three wickets on the last day to finish with 4-30 to secure an innings and 47-run victory.

The win is England’s fourth consecutive Test triumph on Pakistan soil, after a 3-0 whitewash two years ago. England had only won two away Tests against Pakistan in the previous 61 years.

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Ollie Pope, who is standing in as captain for the injured Ben Stokes, said for him it was “one of the top four wins.”

“This win would be right up there,” said Pope who also led England in a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka last month.

“I can think of Islamabad (Rawalpindi against Pakistan in 2022), Hyderabad (against India this year) and Trent Bridge (against New Zealand in 2022)… and this is right up there with the rest of them too.”

Ollie Pope lauded Brook and Root for setting up the mammoth total.

“Credit to those two Yorkshiremen yesterday,” said Pope of the pair who hail from the northern England county.

“In another situation, you’d play a few more shots once you’re past your hundred naturally, but they knew how important it was to get us up to that massive score, so credit to them.”

After 1,379 runs were scored for just 17 wickets, England’s bowlers turned the match on its head with pacer Chris Woakes dismissing Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique with the first ball of the second innings.

Salman Agha with 63 and Aamer Jamal with 55 not out took the game to the last day before Pakistan folded for 220.

“The way the bowlers bowled in this heat was phenomenal,” said Pope of the attack with Gus Atkinson taking 2-46 and debutant Brydon Carse finishing with 2-66.

The second Test will also be in Multan from Tuesday while the third and final in Rawalpindi from October 24.

READ: Gardner takes four as Australia crush Pakistan by nine wickets

England captain wary of Shaheen, Naseem threat in first Pakistan Test

MULTAN: England captain Ollie Pope said on Sunday that his team is wary of the threat posed by Pakistan fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah in the upcoming first Test, scheduled to start on Monday.

Pope will be leading the touring side in the absence of their regular captain Ben Stokes, who has been sidelined from the opening Test due to a lingering hamstring injury. The 26-year-old batter previously led England to a 2-1 home series victory over Sri Lanka.

During the pre-match press conference on Sunday, Pope rejected the idea of underestimating Pakistan despite their recent form.

“Although the Pakistan team hasn’t been in great form recently, they are still a challenging side,” he remarked. “With bowlers like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, we have to play good cricket.”

Meanwhile, he also showed faith in the abilities of his pacers despite the lack of experience.

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“Chris Woakes has made a comeback after a long time, and he is eager to perform consistently in Test cricket,” Pope stated. “Brydon Carse is fast, I have faced him in the nets.”

He also shed light on England’s spin attack, which features experienced Jack Leach and young Shoaib Bashir. Meanwhile, Joe Root can also offer some support with his off-spin bowling.

“Spinners need to be consistent in their performance, and Jack Leach is an experienced bowler,” Pope said. “We have two regular spinners, Joe Root might not be needed, but it depends on the pitch.”

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmad

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir

READ: Aamir Jamal returns as Pakistan unveil Playing XI for first England Test

Ollie Pope becomes first batter in Test cricket history to set unique record

LONDON: Interim England captain Ollie Pope on Friday, made history as he became the first batter in the 147-year history of Test cricket to score his first seven centuries against different oppositions.

Pope created history in the first innings of England’s third Test against Sri Lanka by smashing his maiden Test century at his home ground – The Oval, where he averages 80 in First-class cricket.

His previous Test centuries came against South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, India and the West Indies.

This was also his first hundred as England Test captain as he is filling in the void for injured Ben Stokes in the ongoing series.

Ollie Pope was under severe criticism over his string of failures, managing just 30 runs in his last four innings but made the most of his home-ground advantage and answered the critics.

His unbeaten run-a-ball 103 powered England to 221/3 on a rain-interrupted opening day of the third Test against Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka, already 2-0 down in the three-match series, failed to make the most out of the overcast conditions and a grassy pitch after skipper Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and put England into bat.

Left-handed opener Ben Duckett provided the home side a rampant start but failed to convert his sensational knock into a century as he fell agonizingly short by just 14 runs. He scored 86 off just, hitting nine fours and two sixes.

Experienced batter Joe Root, who has been in red-hot form, had a rare failure as he managed just 13 before falling victim to Lahiru Kumara.

England dominated the day mostly due to the second-wicket partnership between Duckett and Pope.

The duo frustrated Sri Lanka bowlers and added 95 runs to the total until Milan Rathnayake dismissed Duckett.

Ollie Pope, unbeaten with a run-a-ball 103, will now resume England’s first innings from
221/3 on the second day of the match with Harry Brook, who had scored eight not out.

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Ollie Pope scores century as England make Sri Lanka struggle

LONDON: Ollie Pope returned to form on his Oval home ground with a first hundred as England captain on Friday’s opening day of the third Test against Sri Lanka.

Pope had managed a mere 30 runs in four previous innings since succeeding the injured Ben Stokes as skipper at the start of this series.

But when bad light ended play for the day, Pope was a run-a-ball 103 not out, with England well-placed on 221-3.

Sri Lanka, already 2-0 down in this three-match series, failed to make the most of overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch after captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and put England into bat.

And England should arguably have had two century-makers on Friday with opener Ben Duckett, not for the first time, giving his wicket away after making 86.

A rare bright spot for struggling Sri Lanka was the dismissal of Joe Root for 13 shortly before tea.

Root was fresh from two hundreds in a 190-run win over Sri Lanka at Lord’s where he set a new England record of 34 Test centuries.

England, who swept the West Indies 3-0 earlier this season are chasing their first home Test campaign clean sweep since 2004, when Michael Vaughan oversaw seven successive wins.

Duckett was soon into his stride, with the left-hander cover-driving fours off successive Milan Rathnayake deliveries.

It was a different story for makeshift opener Dan Lawrence, a middle-order batsman by trade.

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Lawrence was forced to face the new ball this series in the absence of the injured Zak Crawley.

He had made just five when he got in a tangle against a short-pitched Lahiru Kumara delivery and top-edged a simple catch to gully.

Number three Ollie Pope got off the mark in style by cutting a loose ball from fast bowler Rathnayake for four and he also hooked a six off Lahiru Kumara.

The 29-year-old Duckett completed a speedy fifty off just 48 balls, including seven fours.

Even with the floodlights on, the umpires decided it was too dangerous to continue and stopped play for bad light, with England 76-1 off 15 overs. Rain then fell as well and the match did not resume until 1410 GMT.

It was not long before Duckett ramped Kumara for six over fine leg and uppercut him high over the third man, with all of Sri Lanka’s four-man pace attack struggling to maintain a challenging line and length.

But Duckett, in sight of just his fourth century in 26 Tests, was out when he miscued an extravagant scoop off Rathnayake to wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal.

It was a careless end to a stand of 95 in 16 overs with Pope.

The 26-year-old Pope was fortunate with a top-edged six off Kumara but the persevering paceman did have Root hooking to fine leg, where Vishwa Fernando held onto the catch despite slipping on the wet turf.

Surrey favourite Ollie Pope, 84 not out at tea, went to his seventh hundred in 49 Tests, but first at the Oval, when he stylishly square-drove Asitha Fernando for his 13th four in 102 balls, also including two sixes.

Soon afterwards bad light at 1653 GMT again saw the players leave the field, with no more play possible Friday.

READ: Ton-up Inglis powers Australia to series-clinching victory over Scotland

Interim England captain Pope to follow Root’s footsteps

Interim England Test captain Ollie Pope sought to follow former captain Joe Root’s footsteps to maintain the responsibilities of captaincy and batting after a challenging outing in the first Test against Sri Lanka.

Pope, who replaced injured Ben Stokes as England captain for the three-match series against Sri Lanka, led the home side to a convincing five-wicket victory in the opening fixture.

However, the right-handed batter struggled to make a mark with the bat as he could score six runs in each innings. His dismissal in the second innings came while attempting to play a reverse sweep.

As England bid for the series-clinching victory, Ollie Pope shared to have sought advice from Joe Root on how to excel while performing dual responsibilities.

“I really enjoyed the week. “The runs didn’t come for me, but hopefully in the next two weeks, I can separate my roles as captain and batsman and focus more on my batting,” said Pope.

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“We talked about how being in the field as captain can be more taxing, but it’s about finding a little routine and doing small things to keep the roles separate.

“Chatting to Rooty, who’s obviously got a great cricket brain and is England’s best batter, we just bounced a few ideas off each other.”

The England and Wales Cricket (ECB) on Tuesday, announced their lineup for the second Test against Sri Lanka and made just one change to their side which soared to a five-wicket victory.

Right-arm pacer Olly Stone would play his fourth Test for England, coming in as a replacement for Mark Wood, who suffered a thigh injury on the third day of the opening Test in Manchester.

England’s playing XI for the second Test against Sri Lanka

Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone, Shoaib Bashir.

READ: Former Pakistan captain urges Jay Shah to show “sportsman spirit”

Ollie Pope hails Graham Thorpe as a ‘great man’ ahead of Old Trafford tribute

Stand-in Test captain Ollie Pope said Graham Thorpe was a “great man” as English cricket prepared to honour the stylish run-scorer before Wednesday’s start of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford.

Thorpe, widely regarded as the outstanding England batsman of his generation, died aged 55 earlier this month after being hit by a train, with his wife Amanda confirming he had taken his own life having suffered from depression for several years.

Before the first of a three-match series gets underway, the giant screens at Old Trafford will show a series of videos recalling Thorpe’s career.

There will also be a minute’s applause, with England wearing black armbands in Thorpe’s memory for the duration of the Test.

It will be the first time the side have publicly honoured Graham Thorpe, who later became an England assistant coach since his death sent shockwaves throughout the world of cricket.

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For Ollie Pope, who has followed in Thorpe’s footsteps at both Surrey and England and will be captaining his country for the first time in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes, it promises to be a particularly poignant occasion.

“We’ll have our black armbands on throughout the course of the game and there’ll be a tribute to him before the game,” he said during a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

“It’s hurt a lot of people in that changing room. He was a great man. I probably had two or three years playing with him as a batting coach and, as a person, I really admired him.”

The 26-year-old Pope added: “I always remember him saying one thing to me which was, ‘Never let the runs you’re scoring define you as a person’. When you’re young, in a bit of a rut, that was exactly what I needed to hear.

“It shows for me what a people’s person he was. He was loved in the changing room. He’s such a sad loss to everyone, to the country, his family and the boys as well. He’s missed and we’ll honour him this week.”

READ: Toss of first Pakistan-Bangladesh Test delayed due to wet outfield

Pope ready to lead England his way but glad of Stokes support

Ollie Pope is prepared to “do his own thing” as England Test captain but accepts he is in caretaker charge of what is still effectively Ben Stokes’s side.

Pope will become the 82nd man to take up the captaincy when he leads England out in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford starting Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Surrey batsman was promoted from vice-captain after Stokes was ruled out after suffering a torn hamstring playing in the Hundred.

Stokes is set to miss the three-match series against Sri Lanka. Ollie Pope’s elevation caps a rapid rise for a cricketer who was not certain of his place when Ben Stokes took charge two years ago alongside coach Brendon McCullum.

Stokes first led England, in 2020, deputising for father-to-be Joe Root who left a message reading “do it your own way”.

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Ollie Pope has no qualms about sticking with the basic ‘Bazball’ approach and will also be able to call directly on Stokes, who will be with the England squad for all three Tests.

“It’s a great opportunity for me, one of the greatest honours in English cricket,” Pope told a pre-match press conference at Old Trafford on Tuesday. “But I think it’s still Stokesy’s team.

“That’s probably the difference. I’ve had no message in my locker but I’m sat next to him in the changing room!

“It’s going to be great to have him around. If I want to lean on him, I can lean on him and I think he’s going to let me do my own thing for the course of this Test series as well.

“I’ve picked his brains a little bit on that moving forward. It’s a lot of the same messages but from a different voice and in my own way.

“He’s obviously going to be watching, chatting, so I can have those conversations in the intervals if I think anything needs to change and we can bounce a few ideas off each other.

“We’ve got some great coaches and obviously he’s just another brain in the changing room.”

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Ben Stokes ruled out of Sri Lanka Tests, new captain named

England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) named Ollie Pope as the skipper.

Stokes suffered a hamstring injury during Sunday’s fixture of The Hundred between Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers.

The all-rounder, who bats as an opener for the Superchargers, sprinted for a quick single in the early phase of the run chase and suffered the injury after completing the run.

He was then carried off the field by the medical staff and looked in extreme discomfort.

After his side’s triumph, Ben Stokes was seen using crutches and the Superchargers affirmed that the star all-rounder may have suffered a hamstring issue, which puts his participation in England’s upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka in jeopardy.

As a result of the scans conducted in Leeds on Tuesday, Ben Stokes will miss England’s three-match Test series against Sri Lanka, which begins at Old Trafford on Wednesday, 21 August.

He will be replaced by vice-captain Ollie Pope as England’s Test captain for the upcoming series.

“Surrey batter Ollie Pope will captain the side against Sri Lanka in Stokes’ absence and England will not be adding to the squad ahead of team meeting up next week in Manchester,” stated ECB.

Sri Lanka Squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (vc), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Nisala Tharaka, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake.

England Squad: Ollie Pope (c), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

READ: England legend appointed as Sri Lanka’s batting coach