Former England captain Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton opens up on Ollie Pope after England Cricket Board (ECB) announced him new captain because their regular skipper Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the remainder of the English summer due to a hamstring injury while playing in The Hundred. Hussain opined that the Sri Lanka series will mark an ideal preparation for the new skipper ahead of the Ashes.
“I think it’s good for Pope to be captain for three Tests, just in case, Ben Stokes does get injured in the future, They need other options. Just like when they go to Australia, and they don’t want a bowling attack that’s inexperienced. You don’t want to get there with someone [leading] who hasn’t done it before.” Said Hussain on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
Nasser also spoke about how the Pope may face a hard time due to the success team has got during the Stokes era.
“The feeling with Pope is that it doesn’t come naturally, [whereas] the feeling with Stokes is that cricketing intelligence comes very naturally to him. It feels like he [Pope] was given the vice-captaincy to get him out of that shell, the no. 3 position as well, we believe in you, which I think was the right thing to do. But the other side of that, when you’re captain. You’ve to sell that belief. Sell yourself to the team, your plans.” said the 56-year-old.
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Pope has made 46 Test appearances at the age of 26 but will lead the side for the first time. Pope expressed his emotions through an Instagram story, saying, “A real honour to lead the side out over the next few weeks. Gutted for the skipper going down but can’t wait to get going.”
The Test series between England and Sri Lanka is scheduled to start from August 21 where the first match will take place at Old Trafford and the remainder of the series will be played at Lord's and The Oval.
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