England stand-in Test captain Ollie Pope said that he has been well short of runs despite England having a series win over Sri Lanka. He feels losing and regaining form are part of the game but he will try to block out all the noise as well. He has managed scores of 6, 6, 1, and 17 since taking over the captaincy duties in the absence of Ben Stokes.

Pope said as quoted by BBC,  “That’s the way cricket is sometimes – form comes and goes. The best players are the ones who can draw a line under it. Hopefully, I can put a score together. Chatting to Stokesy before this series, when you’re captain you attract a lot more. It’s important to block it out and stay close with the people around me. There are a lot of voices, a lot of guys who want to have their say, past cricketers as well. That’s completely fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

Amid the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka, former England captain Michael Vaughan said that he was strongly against the idea of Ollie Pope leading the team. He instead wants Harry Brook for the role.

“It would be a pretty cool thing to look back on after a summer of six Tests and having won them all, if we can do it. We’ve played some really good cricket throughout this summer after a tough winter away in India. To get used to winning games back to back is really pleasing for us,” he said.