Michael Vaughan recently gave a blunt opinion on England’s stand-in Test captain.
Former cricketer-turned-commentator Michael Vaughan recently gave a blunt opinion on England’s stand-in Test captain Ollie Pope, claiming that the batter hardly fits in that role.
Vaughan went on to say that Pope is an ‘insecure human being’ and Harry Brook is a better prospect for captaincy.
Pope is leading England in the ongoing home Test series against Sri Lanka owing to an injury to regular skipper Ben Stokes. The all-rounder sustained a hamstring injury while playing in The Hundred last month, which forced him to be on the sidelines for the remainder of the English summer.
Pope has struggled with the bat while captaining the Test team, returning with scores of 6, 6, 1 and 17 in the first two matches.
Meanwhile, Ollie Pope has responded to Vaughan’s criticism, saying that it did not surprise him as he had expected more of it. However, he aims to avoid "overthinking" about the outside noise ahead of the third and final Test match of the series at The Oval.
"I'm not surprised. Chatting to Stokesy before this series, when you're captain as well, you're going to attract a lot more [criticism]. To be honest, it is just important to block it out and keep staying close with the people around you. There's a lot of voices, a lot of guys who want to have their say - some past cricketers as well - and that's completely fine,” Pope said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but it's important for us as a team and me to stay and keep trusting the people in the four walls, because that's not going to help me get back into my best form. Sometimes, when you have two bad games, it can feel a lot worse than it is because of the noise that's surrounding it."
"For me, it's just trying to stay as level as I can and keep on trusting the people around me, putting my work in, and not really overthinking it, to be honest. When I went and made good runs in that West Indies series, that's exactly what I was playing like, so there's no real need for me to get too involved in what people are saying," he added.
Ollie Pope, who averages 34 in 48 Tests for England, refused to attribute his low scores in the Sri Lanka series to the responsibility of captaincy.
"I'm not going to put down my average shot to the fact that I was captain," Pope stated. "I'll learn from it and move on, but I think I've managed my own game better throughout this match… The second innings was slightly different, because we were really trying to push the game forward, but I was very disappointed with the shot I played in the first innings so early on.
"I'm not going to hide behind the fact that I've had two poor games with the bat. That's the way cricket is sometimes and form comes and goes. But I think the best players are the ones who can draw a line under it and have a fresh start next week. Hopefully, I can put a score together."
The stand-in England captain will be hoping to bounce back to form when he returns to his home ground for the third Test against Sri Lanka.
"Obviously it's a great place to bat," he said. "It's always special getting back to The Oval, where I've played all my county cricket, so hopefully there will be a great crowd in. Everyone will be excited to get to The Oval."
Having won the first two Tests, England have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The final Test is slated to get underway on September 6.
(ESPNCricinfo Inputs)