Ollie Pope says Ben Stokes support is key ahead of England’s Test series against Sri Lanka – ‘I've picked his brains’
Published 20/08/2024 at 16:50 GMT+1
England start their three-match series against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford in Manchester, before heading to Lord's and The Oval. Captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out due to injury, meaning Ollie Pope will lead the side in the series. Pope will become the 82nd player to captain the England men's team and says he will lean on Stokes for support during the matches.
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Ollie Pope says he will lean on regular captain Ben Stokes for support when he leads England in their three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
The first match gets underway at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Stokes is unavailable to play after injuring his hamstring while playing in The Hundred for Northern Superchargers.
That means the responsibility is handed to vice-captain Pope, who will become the 82nd player to captain the England men’s team in Test cricket.
“It's a great opportunity for me - one of the greatest honours in English cricket - but I think it's still Stokesy's team,” Pope said.
Despite being unable to play, Stokes will still be with the squad during their match in Manchester, before the series moves on to Lord’s and The Oval for the second and third Tests, respectively.
"It's going to be great to have him around," Pope added. "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.
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"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."
As a result of Stokes being unable to play, Matthew Potts has been brought into the team as an extra seam bowler, while Harry Brook has been promoted to vice-captain.
Dan Lawrence returns to the side for the first time in more than two years in place of injured opening batter Zak Crawley.
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