Ollie Pope was picked as the stand-in captain for fifth Test against India after Ben Stokes was rested
Even though he was handed the captaincy in Ben Stokes’ absence for The Oval Test against India, Ollie Pope is not suitable to be the next England Test captain. There were multiple questions over Pope’s credentials to be given a chance to be the permanent captain. But former captain Michael Vaughan cited another specific reason why the 27-year-old doesn’t fit the role.
Pope has been a Test regular since Stokes took over the captaincy in 2022 and Brendon McCullum became the head coach. In 60 matches so far, Pope averages 35.58 with 3,558 runs to his name, including nine hundreds and 16 fifties.
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Vaughan, who masterminded England to the famous 2005 Ashes victory at home, said that the personality of Pope has a lot to do with shouldering the captaincy.
“I look at someone like Ollie Pope, who looks a fantastic vice-captain. He is a brilliant person to have next to the captain to come up with ideas. Sometimes vice-captains aren’t brilliant captains,” Vaughan said on Test Match Special podcast.
Vaughan took the example of former opener Marcus Trescothick, who was his deputy but didn’t suit the captaincy role.
“Marcus Trescothick was a magnificent vice-captain for me but you wouldn’t want to give him the captaincy,” he explained.
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The former batter also felt that conceding a big total of 396 in the second innings on a green top like The Oval wasn’t Pope’s fault. He pointed to the fact that the team dropped Yashasvi Jaiswal four times as he went on to score 118.
“It is not Ollie Pope’s fault England are in this position. It is the dropped catches,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan suggested that Harry Brook is the natural successor to Stokes if the all-rounder steps down from his post. Brook was recently appointed as the white-ball captain. It came after Jos Buttler gave up captaincy following England’s early exit from the Champions Trophy 2025.
“Harry Brook, to me, looks like a leader. He looks like a born leader. If Ben Stokes is injured in the future can’t Pope stay as vice-captain and Harry Brook gets the leadership role?” he said.
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