Former England captain Michael Vaughan has opened up on Ollie Pope as he faced a horror three-match Test tour of Pakistan. The veteran believes Pope lacks the mentality and technique to succeed on tricky pitches as well. However, he had come to Pakistan with three centuries over the home summer. However, he failed to do well in the three-Test tour of Pakistan, registering scores of 0, 29, 22, 3, and 1 as England succumbed to a 2-1 series loss as well.
Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan stated: “Pope is a good player and a great lad who clearly brings a lot to this environment, which places great stock in togetherness and getting on well. Making a big change like this is never easy, and England will not want to. But his returns suggest he does not have the mentality or technique to thrive against the very best bowlers.”
“I don’t think he’s been consistently good enough to survive. Unless England think they can change his technique to make it simpler, and allow him to become calmer at the crease, then it is time to change. The two dismissals in this game, to be honest, were schoolboyish. They are the kind of dismissals you’d expect from someone who is 19 and is making their way against spin, not someone who has played 52 Tests, including 15 in Asia. It looks like he’s got no control of what he is trying to do when he plays spin,” he again added.
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However, Vaughan also added that it’s baffling to see him not learning from Joe Root when it comes to playing spin and has hardly looked
assured against any bowling as well.
He continued: “I never feel like I know exactly what his plan is. The opposite of that is Joe Root, who looks organized against spin, whether he makes runs or not. Pope has been very fortunate to have played 50-odd games with Root, and I’m amazed he hasn’t tried to copy him.”If Pope and England are honest with themselves, they have to recognize that even his best innings have lacked control. I enjoy watching him bat when he’s in because there’s lots of strokes and it’s exciting. But it’s full of risk. One thing I am certain of is that Australia and India would love to see him walking out at No. 3 next year.”
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With England not to play in Asia until 2027, Vaughan said that Ben Stokes can move to No. 3 as he is good at absorbing pressure and does well against seam as well.
“My solution would be to move Ben Stokes to No. 3. This might seem a strange time to suggest that, given he has had another poor tour against spin. But England won’t face as much spin for a while, and Stokes has an outstanding defence against seam, and clearly isn’t going to bowl too much. Stokes is the one player who could soak up pressure,” Michael Vaughan concluded.
