Ollie Pope said that it was a “massive honour” for him to lead the English Test team. Pope said that he was gutted after Ben Stokes missed out, but looked forward to performing his duties diligently in the whites for the Three Lions. Pope’s first assignment is the opening Test against Sri Lanka, which got underway on Wednesday at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Earlier, Stokes sustained a hamstring injury while playing for the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred Men’s competition. During a match against Manchester Originals, Stokes pulled up while taking a run, after which he collapsed on the ground. Later it was learnt that he would not be able to get fit for the Sri Lanka Tests.
“Big honour, shame for Stokesy that he’s missing out, but a massive honour to captain the Test side, something I’m looking forward to,” Pope said at toss.
After winning the toss, Pope opted to bowl first, hoping for England to take advantage of the conditions. “We were probably going to have a bowl but looks a good pitch for first half of the game, rock hard, so hopefully a bit of pace early,” Pope said.
Stokes, in the meantime, would be looking to make a comeback when England go to Pakistan for a Test series later this year. In Stokes’ absence, Jordan Cox was in contention to make his debut, but he eventually wasn’t picked.
For the Sri Lanka series, England also missed out on the services of Zak Crawley, who could not make the cut due to a finger injury. In Crawley’s place, it was Dan Lawrence, who was preferred as the opening partner of Ben Duckett.
England are placed seventh in the table in the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), having played 13 Tests.
Source Agencies
