Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said he would be happy to be proven wrong on stand-in skipper Ollie Pope’s leadership credentials. At the same time, Vaughan stuck to his view that Pope is an insecure person as a leader. Pope made scores of one and 17 in England’s 190-run win over Sri Lanka at Lord’s. So far in the series, he has amassed only 30 runs in four innings. Questions have been raised over Pope being fidgety while batting and criticism has increased over his leadership abilities not being up to the mark.
Though he rotated his bowlers well and set up funky fields when required, Pope also had eight unsuccessful reviews, adding more fuel to the debate of being made the England Test captain weighing him down.
“Ollie Pope is the ideal vice-captain for England. Pope is that perfect foil for Ben Stokes. He is a very good guy, trains well and is a real team man – someone who can give tactical advice when required and is happy in the background. But he is better kept in that role, as vice-captain, than elevated to captain.”
“I would be happy to be proven wrong on Pope. But I think he is someone who is a bit insecure. I can see why they gave him the vice-captaincy to give him a boost, but he really did not need the captaincy at this stage of his career. For all the focus on Pope’s captaincy, it will be forgotten when Stokes returns in Pakistan,” wrote Vaughan in his column for The Telegraph.
He also commented on Pope being unsettled and frantic when coming out to bat at number three for England. “Not every vice-captain is going to make a captain. There are also a lot of captains who cannot be vice-captains, myself included. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be making the decision. I did not want to be the thoughtful strategist in the background.”
“I hope that Pope fights through his poor run of form. I hope he can find a way of getting that rhythm. In a game’s time, he is not going to be a captain, and it is purely about his batting. Can he find that rhythm and that calmness at the crease?”
“By giving Pope the captaincy now, I think England have given him a pressure that he did not need. It came at a stage when it was looking like he was working out how to bat at No 3 and had done well there against West Indies earlier in the summer. Then he gets thrown the captaincy.”
Vaughan also wishes to see Harry Brook being groomed as England’s next Test captain, and feels if needed, Joe Root can take up leadership mantle in an interim capacity. “Looking ahead, Harry Brook would be a better fit as captain for this side: his whole approach makes him a natural successor to Stokes.”
“But if there is another interim period when Stokes is injured and there are concerns about whether Brook is ready, what is wrong with giving the captaincy to Joe Root? It would not be backward step. He would just be seeing out a series when you know Stokes is coming back. And Stokes is still there in the dressing room anyway.”
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