Getting England Test captaincy was like another debut, says Ollie Pope

New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) Ollie Pope, England’s stand-in captain for the Test series against Sri Lanka, said being the side’s captain for the first time at Manchester brought back that feeling of making debut again. But at the same time, he added about aiming to improve his batting returns ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.

England secured a five-wicket victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford and lead three-match series 1-0. Pope got a win on becoming the 82nd player to captain England in men’s Tests but made just six runs twice.

“It is obviously different captaining for the first time. It is a fresh start but for me, it just has a slightly different feel the first time you do it. It is almost like that kind of debut feeling again. But at the same time, I really enjoyed the week,” said Pope to reporters in the press conference.

“Obviously the runs didn’t come for me, but for the team to get the win, that is the most important thing. I think the first time you do anything like that, I remember I was knackered after day one and I hadn’t done anything but fielded. It is good to get that first win out the way, first win on the board,” he said.

Pope also revealed he has sought premier batter Joe Root to seek his advice on how to manage the demands of captaining England and focusing on his own batting game. “You can go work in the nets and stuff, but once you are back in the changing rooms, you are back to being captain and leader again.”

“That is something I have spoken to Joe Root about because he was a very successful England captain and did Joe Root things with the bat throughout. Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks, I can get some scores for the team. We just spoke about how it’s more taxing in the field but it’s finding a little routine and doing small things,” he said.

“It’s just making sure that I keep doing what has brought success over the last couple of years and having that on repeat. It’s just finding a way to compartmentalise. Chatting to Rooty, he’s obviously got a great cricket brain and is England’s best batter, so we just bounced a few ideas off each other.”

Pope further believes the brutal decisions made by England’s red-ball head coach Brendon McCullum are helping the team move forward. “With what Brendon did leading into this summer, he made some pretty brutal changes that he thought would take the team to a better place moving forward.”

“I think we showed last week. We don’t use the term ‘Bazball’, but we played quote ‘a different style of cricket’ and I think that is something that can keep taking us forward as a team. When we can be ruthless, we have got to try to be ruthless just to win as many games as possible.”

“Other days we will go out and score a little more freely and potentially take the wickets in a shorter amount of time. It is a credit to the guys who have come in. Jamie Smith, the way he played in both innings is a credit to him and shows that we are taking this team forward.”

Pope signed off by saying regular skipper Ben Stokes should be fit in time to play on England’s tours of Pakistan and New Zealand later this year after a hamstring tear during The Hundred ruled him out of the Sri Lanka series.

“He’s obviously still a fair while away from playing, and he’s not trying to play as a batter and a first slip – just yet, anyway. But it’s been great to see him.”

“Injuries are never ideal but they’re also great chances for people to keep improving their game and have a bit of time for reflection and think about what they can work on. I’m sure that’s exactly what he’s doing in the nets. Going into that Pakistan series and then New Zealand he’s going to be as fresh as anyone,” he said.

–IANS

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