England’s temporary captain Ollie Pope says the team is still very much under the reign of Ben Stokes, despite taking charge for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
Stokes has been ruled out of the event after injuring his hamstring for the Northern Superchargers during The Hundred this month.
It means 26-year-old Pope will become the nation’s 82nd Test captain, although Stokes will still be with the squad throughout.
Speaking ahead of the First Test on Wednesday, Pope said: “He leads us and he’s still in the changing room. It’s great to have him around.
“None of the messages are going to be different, we’re not going to play any differently. I’ll just be getting similar messages across, in my own way.
“He’s going to let me go do my thing over the course of this series, which is good for me.
“One of the greatest honours.” ❤
Ollie Pope is excited to captain England for their three-Test series against Sri Lanka 👏#BBCCRICKET PIC.TWITTER.COM/78TL3SVI4I
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) AUGUST 20, 2024
“At the same time he’s obviously going to be watching, so I can have those conversations in the intervals if I think anything needs to change. It’s only a positive having him around.
“Having the vice-captaincy role has given me the opportunity to get my head around it if this opportunity came about.
“I’ve thought about it on the pitch, watched Stokesy closely as to how he manages the bowlers and the way he goes about it in the changing rooms.
“There are a few little bits I’ll take from him. It’s not a massive issue that I haven’t captained a lot in first-class cricket.”
Pope will become the fifth man to captain England for a Test series since 2009.
But alongside the absent Stokes, Pope will be without opener Zak Crawley, who broke his finger last month.
Sri Lanka have said that they may have a better chance of winning the Test due to Stokes’ absence, but Pope will be determined to prove he has what it takes to step up to the task.
