Ollie Pope will not be able to play for England in the rest of the Ashes series because he dislocated his right shoulder in the second Test at Lord’s last week.
Pope has dislocated his shoulder twice before. On Monday, he had a scan in London, which showed the full extent of the injury. He will have surgery and won’t be able to play in the last three Tests against Australia. After that, he will start his recovery with the help of the England and Surrey medical teams.
After hurting his arm diving for a ball on the first day of the Lord’s Test, Pope made it worse on the third day when the umpires made him take the field after England’s first innings, in which they scored 42. England was angry about the situation, and Jeetan Patel, England’s spin coach, said that England would have had to play with only ten guys if he hadn’t shown up.
Patel said, “It’s a tough situation when you almost break your shoulder and they tell you it was an external injury.” “It was a given that it would happen. He cares so much about this team. He always tripped over something. And now he’s stepping back.”
Pope is also England’s vice-captain, but that role is easy to fill. Stuart Broad, who filled the role unofficially last summer, is set to take over as Ben Stokes’s second-in-command. A bigger question, though, is who will fill the No. 3 slot at Headingley, which is now empty.
Even though Pope’s average against Australia was 22.50 over four innings, he has averaged 45.25 since Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum took over at the beginning of last summer. Now, England is down 2-0 and has to win its next match to keep the Ashes alive. However, there is a problem at the top of the order that needs to be fixed.
Joe Root talked about the loss of Pope on Tuesday at Headingley. He didn’t rule out going back to No. 3, which he hasn’t done since he gave up the captaincy at the beginning of last summer.
“Over the past 18 months, Ollie has been great. He stepped up as vice captain, and the more responsibility we gave him, the better player he became. We will miss him a lot. He’s a great player and a great mind to have in the group. Having him as vice-captain helps Ben a lot. It will, of course, be a big loss. He has been an important part of this team for a long time and will be for a long time to come.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot about my game in the past few years. I’ve said many times that now that I’m a senior player, it’s my turn to give back to everyone who had to put up with me as captain and let me do things my way for so long. I’m there to try to score runs, no matter where I’m at, and get us back into this game.
Dan Lawrence is as close as you can get to a direct replacement. He is the only spare batter in the team because England didn’t name a replacement. He has also been in good form at home, hitting 491 runs at 44.63 with two centuries for Essex.
Root was in charge when the 25-year-old got his last of 11 games during the Caribbean tour in March 2022. The fact that he scored 91 in the second Test against West Indies at Bridgetown showed how good he was. After waiting his turn in Stokes’s team, he could be about to make his Bazball debut. Root couldn’t say how England will make up for Pope’s absence because Stokes is likely to name an XI on Wednesday. However, he did praise Lawrence’s ability to step into an Ashes game and do well.
“He’s also in good shape,” said Root. “Got 150-odd for Essex in the last Championship match (152 against Warwickshire). He had a great touch there where he walked off the field, got in his car, and drove down to Lord’s. He didn’t have to field.
“He’s in a good mood, in good spirits, and in good shape, which is great when guys on the outside or next in line are getting runs and feeling good in their own games. That’s a good place to be.
“You’ve seen a taste of what he can do in Test cricket. He hit a great 90 or so runs and was out on the last ball of the day in Barbados, when it looked like he was going to get a hundred. He could have a very exciting future if he gets the chance. He has that steely determination that makes him want to do well at that level. He also has a great game, so it’s an exciting possibility.”
Another possibility is to bring Moeen Ali back into the team after his finger injury as Pope’s replacement. This would move the rest of the players up the order, putting Root at number three. Harry Brook could also be considered for the job, but he may not be moved from number six because he hasn’t done much so far in the series, scoring only 132 runs at 33 after four hits.
