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 the right man to be the next England Test according to former captain Michael Vaughan.
Even though there were multiple questions over Pope’s credentials to be given a chance to be the permanent captain, Vaughan cited another specific reason why the 27-year-old doesn’t fit the role.
Pope has been a Test regular ever since Stokes took over the captaincy in 2022 and Brendon McCullum took over as the head coach. From the 60 matches he has played 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 Treschothick 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 top-order batter also felt that England conceding a big total of 396 in the second innings on a green top like The Oval wasn’t Pope’s fault and pointed to the fact of the team dropping 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, who was recently appointed as the white-ball captain, is the natural successor to Stokes if the all-rounder steps down from his post. Brook was appointed the captain 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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