Ollie Pope is ready to "do his own thing" as England Test captain, but acknowledges that he is temporarily in charge of a team that still largely belongs to Ben Stokes. Pope will be the 82nd person to assume the captaincy when he leads England in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, starting on Wednesday. The 26-year-old Surrey batsman was elevated from vice-captain after Stokes was sidelined due to a torn hamstring sustained during a game in the Hundred. Stokes is expected to miss the entire three-match series against Sri Lanka. Pope's promotion marks a swift ascent for a player who wasn't even guaranteed a spot when Stokes took over as captain two years ago under coach Brendon McCullum. Stokes first captained England in 2020, filling in for Joe Root, who left a note encouraging him to "do it your own way". Pope is comfortable with the fundamental 'Bazball' strategy and will have direct access to Stokes, who will be present with the England squad for all three Tests.
"It's a fantastic opportunity for me, one of the highest honors in English cricket," Pope said during a pre-match press conference at Old Trafford on Tuesday. "But I think it's still Stokesy's team. That's probably the key difference. I haven't received any specific message, but I sit next to him in the changing room! It's going to be great to have him around. If I need to rely on him, I can, and I think he's going to let me do my own thing throughout this Test series as well. I've already consulted him a bit about our approach moving forward. It's mostly the same messages, but conveyed in my own style." Stokes will be observing and available for discussions, allowing Pope to seek advice during breaks if needed and exchange ideas.
In other news, right-arm medium-fast bowler Milan Rathnayake is set to make his Test debut for Sri Lanka at Old Trafford. Rathnayake will join Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando in Sri Lanka's pace attack, with Prabath Jayasuriya named as the sole specialist spinner for the match starting Wednesday. Sri Lanka, who suffered a seven-wicket defeat against England Lions in a warm-up match last week, haven't beaten England in a Test since June 2014. The second and third Tests of the series will be held in London, at Lord's from August 26 and at the Oval from September 6.
Teams: England: 1 Dan Lawrence, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (capt), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Shoaib Bashir. Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Nishan Madushka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Prabath Jayasuriya, 9 Asitha Fernando, 10 Vishwa Fernando, 11 Milan Rathnayake.
