Ollie Pope: I don’t know if I’m Ben Stokes deputy as captain but I back my cricket brain

Surrey No.3 attempting to fill the void left by Hashim Amla

Ollie Pope is confident he has the “cricket brain” to fill England’s captaincy void should Ben Stokes’ troublesome knee rule him out of an Ashes Test this summer, but insists he has no idea whether he would be in line for the job.

England have put off formally announcing a vice-captain to Stokes ever since he and Brendon McCullum took charge of the Test team a year ago.

Stuart Broad was in line to lead when Stokes was a doubt for last summer’s Headingley Test against New Zealand, but Pope captained during warm-up games ahead of the Pakistan and New Zealand away series this winter.

Stokes’s knee issue became a growing concern during the latter tour, with the all-rounder limited to bowling just two overs during the one-run defeat in Wellington.

He has since returned to action with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and offered a positive fitness update, but it remains to be seen whether the 31-year-old can get through six Tests in two months, starting with the one-off against Ireland on June 1.

“Fingers crossed, touch wood - his knee’s all good,” Pope said. “I don’t know if Stokesy did go down, I’m not sure who would do it to be honest, we’ve not spoken about it.

“It’s not a conversation that’s been had, it’s just something that if it comes about then I feel confident, I feel the cricket brain’s good enough to allow that to happen. Whether they chose to do that in a Test, I’ve honestly no idea.”

Were Stokes missing, England would have the option of turning to his predecessor, Joe Root, while Broad and fellow bowler James Anderson would be other experienced options.

However, Root has spoken of his relief at being freed from the burden of captaincy and England will have to rotate their seamers through a busy summer, leaving no guarantee that Broad or Anderson would be on the field to step in. Pope, though, now looks a lock at No3 and was tipped as a future permanent England captain by Broad back in February.

“It’s always a dream I guess,” Pope continued. ”[But] before this winter, even before the summer, you just want to nail your spot down in the team, to be honest, and that’s what I’ve got to continue doing.

“It’s something that, since I’ve done that first captaincy, I try and watch Stokesy a little bit closer to try and see what he does with the bowlers and what he does with the fields and how he talks to his bowlers as well. Because why not? That’s only going to make my cricket brain better.

“There’s really one Ben Stokes, isn’t there, in England? And I think that’s something that if he did get injured and someone had to do it, no one is going to try and replicate exactly what he does, but take the ideas he implemented into the team.”

‘There’s really one Ben Stokes’, says Pope
AFP via Getty Images

Pope is set to bat at No3 for Surrey when they start their County Championship defence at Lancashire on Thursday, attempting to fill the void left by the retired Hashim Amla having been backed in the position for England from the start of the Stokes and McCullum era.

Twelve months ago, the 25-year-old went into the new season unsure of his immediate international future, having endured a torrid Ashes series in Australia and then been left out of both Tests on the tour to the West Indies.

“I feel a better player now,” Pope added. “We’ve obviously got that different mindset that we’re going with now and I feel like I’m a much better player, I’ve got a better defence and a better game plan.

“I go into a Test series really excited for it, rather than thinking: ‘Oh, if I miss out this time, I hope it’s not going to be my last’. I look at it with that positive mindset now and Stokesy and Baz have really allowed that to happen. They should be the best times of your life, playing for England, and they’ve made that pretty clear.

“Your career’s too short for you not to love those moments so that’s a good message for me. You’ve got to enjoy it while you’re there. I feel good in my own game now.”

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