England vs Sri Lanka: Ollie Pope will captain ‘in my very own means’ as he steps in for injured Ben Stokes in Take a look at collection | Cricket Information

​​​​​Ollie Pope says Ben Stokes will enable him to captain England his means as he steps as much as lead the facet for the primary time within the three-Take a look at collection in opposition to Sri Lanka.

Common skipper Stokes is out for the remainder of the summer time with a left hamstring damage sustained enjoying in The Hundred however might be within the England dressing room over the approaching weeks.

Pope, Stokes’ regular vice-captain, says he’ll lean on the all-rounder when wanted however could have the liberty to “do my own thing”, beginning at Emirates Outdated Trafford from Wednesday.

The entire collection is stay on Sky Sports activities as England purpose to construct on July’s 3-0 sweep of West Indies, wherein Pope scored a sixth Take a look at hundred, in addition to two half-centuries.

The stand-in skipper, who could have fellow batter Harry Brook as his vice-captain, stated: “I’m sat subsequent to [Stokes] within the altering room and it will likely be nice to have him round.

Pope will not ‘overcomplicate’ throughout England captaincy

“It’s nonetheless Stokesy’s crew and if I need to lean on him I can, however I believe he’ll let me do my very own factor.

“He might be watching and chat with Baz [Test coach Brendon McCullum] so I can have these conversations within the intervals if I believe one thing wants to alter.

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“I know how well he has managed our bowlers especially, so I have picked his brains on it, but it will be a lot of the same messages with a different voice and in my own way.

“It is about not overcomplicating it for me. I believe I learn the sport pretty properly and Stokesy and I’ve typically been of the identical mindset. Because the collection goes on, it’s going to let itself out for me.

After I bought appointed vice-captain a yr and a half in the past, there may be at all times an opportunity one thing like this might occur. It’s not essentially one thing you dream about but it surely is without doubt one of the biggest honours in English cricket. It’s thrilling for me and an opportunity for us as a crew to take a step ahead.

“Brooky has a great cricket brain, [Joe Root] too, so there is plenty of experience out there to bounce a few ideas off.

“Everyone seems to be fairly clear how they need to go about this week and the collection on the whole.”

Root: Pope will not let the game drift

Speaking to Sky Sports about Pope’s temporary stint as captain, Stokes’ predecessor as skipper Joe Root said: “I believe Ollie is a really forward-thinking younger cricketer that has gained an enormous quantity of confidence and expertise over the past couple of years.

“He is well-respected within the dressing room and is very similar-minded to Ben in how he wants to play the game so I think it will be a seamless transition in many ways.

“I do not assume he’ll let the sport drift and he’s the form of character that can take the problem head on.

“The way Ben plays the game, this could potentially happen again so I think it is important for us to see what that looks like.

“It isn’t perfect. We would love Ben to be on the market as he’s an enormous a part of every thing we do and I am certain he’ll nonetheless have a job to play on this collection, however pondering means down the road I am certain it will likely be a invaluable studying expertise.”

‘Potts has bowled his heart out for England’

England have made two changes to the XI that completed the 3-0 victory over West Indies at Edgbaston last month, with Stokes replaced by Durham fast bowler Matthew Potts and Dan Lawrence drafted in to open the batting alongside Ben Duckett after Zak Crawley suffered a fractured finger.

Potts’ choice as a substitute of uncapped Essex batter Jordan Cox provides England a protracted tail, with the 25-year-old or Gus Atkinson more likely to are available in at No 8 forward of Mark Wooden and Shoaib Bashir.

Pope is assured England will rating the runs required with Chris Woakes, who has been bumped as much as No 7, having registered one century and 7 fifties in his Take a look at profession and Potts notching a maiden County Championship hundred this season.

With the ball in Take a look at cricket, Potts has 23 wickets in six matches – most just lately that includes in opposition to Eire in June 2023 – whereas he has struck 21 occasions for Durham within the Championship this time period.

Pope stated: “We have got guys who can come in and score runs down the order and having three seamers is not the easiest ask, so it is a great opportunity to see Pottsy.

“Every time he has pulled on an England shirt he has not let anybody achieved. He has bowled his coronary heart out and bowled superbly.”

Pope: England will not underestimate Sri Lanka

England have gained their earlier three Take a look at collection in opposition to Sri Lanka – two away and one at house – however had been overwhelmed 1-0 again in 2014 when the vacationers adopted a draw at Lord’s with a 100-run victory at Headingley.

Pope added: “We don’t underestimate any of the teams that come over here. Our target is to win 3-0 but we realise Sri Lanka have got some good experienced guys who have played a lot of Test matches.

“The primary focus is on ourselves. We’ll simply play our greatest cricket and attempt to placed on efficiency. Hopefully the scoreboard on the finish displays that.”

On his plans if the primary Take a look at is weather-affected, Pope stated: “If it rains, it rains. I think naturally, with the way the guys play, we do look to move the game forward. If we play well, the game will move forward quicker than it can do at times.

“If it immediately rains on day three that is one thing that we would talk about then, however for now the main focus is to exit and whether or not it takes us 5 days or nonetheless lengthy, win the sport.”

Stokes’ damage provides Sri Lanka hope

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva believes Stokes’ damage has given the vacationers contemporary hope of springing a shock.

De Silva is main his nation’s first Take a look at collection on these shores since 2016 and heads into the opener with the percentages stacked in opposition to Sri Lanka, who’ve gained simply three of their earlier 18 Exams right here.

“He is the balance of their side. He’s the key player for them, when it comes to bowling, batting, everything,” stated De Silva.

“A new guy (Dan Lawrence) comes in to play…there will be pressure on him, coming back into the side to open in these conditions.

“Now we have high quality seamers in our facet and we’ve a world-class spinner with us (Prabath Jayasuriya). If he comes into the sport within the second innings, we really feel we’ve probability to win the sport.”

Sri Lanka have handed a debut to pace bowler Milan Rathnayake and have at their disposal the wild card Kamindu Mendis, an ambidextrous all-rounder who bowls both right and left-arm finger spin.

Also in their ranks is former England batter Ian Bell, with the five-time Ashes winner working as a batting consultant.

“He was a high quality participant who performed plenty of Take a look at cricket and one-day cricket in England. His factors might be invaluable for us and as a batting unit, we’re all getting suggestions from him,” added De Silva.

Watch England’s first Test against Sri Lanka, from Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on Wednesday 11am first ball)

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