Ollie Pope spoke to RadioTimes.com about his new Test vice-captain role, a huge Ashes summer and his hopes for The Hundred.
Ollie Pope has been announced as the new England Men’s Test vice-captain ahead of the summer Ashes series – and is feeling confident about England’s chances of claiming a victory over Australia on home soil.
The 25-year-old Surrey batter has racked up 35 Test appearances for the national side and is expected to line up at No.3 over the course of this summer in a series he firmly believes England can win in front of a home crowd.
Pope sat down for an exclusive chat with RadioTimes.com at a media day for The Hundred – which takes place immediately after The Ashes later this summer – at his home ground, The Oval in South London.
He said: “It feels really good. I found out yesterday, Baz [McCullum] called up before obviously announcing the squad and said that I was going to be vice-captain going forward. It’s really exciting, it’s a big honour to obviously help Stokesy out wherever I can.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that we can call upon as well, there’s so much experience in there, guys who have played hundreds of Tests.
“I think there’ll be sort of a chain of communication, which we’ll find a way to make that work really, really nicely. I’m really honoured to be given the role and excited to get going.
“We’re going to try and go about this Ashes series exactly how we’ve gone about series in the past year or so. There’s that extra bit of focus on it, which is exciting, but like I say, it’s an honour to be given the role. I’m looking looking forward to what lies ahead this summer – it should be really exciting.”
And what a time to be handed the role, a month out from the Ashes as England aim to claim the title for the first time since 2015, having won just two of 15 Ashes Test matches in the last eight years.
Pope understands the weight of the occasion but firmly believes the England camp is confident of going all the way, despite harbouring major respect for their Australian counterparts.
When asked whether England have what it takes to topple the Aussie visitors, Pope said: “Yeah, absolutely. Everyone’s had a different preparation so far. Some of us have been playing county cricket, some in the IPL, but I think at the same time, all you want to feel going into an Ashes series is feeling like you’re prepared, you’ve hit enough balls in the nets, you’ve sort of got confidence in your game and you’re fresh as well. Fresh and excited and confident.
“Whether you’ve been in India playing or you’ve been here playing, I think that’s all you need, especially as a batter, going into a big series like this.
“There’s massive confidence within the group. There’s a lot of respect for the Australians – they’re obviously a very good side. They’ve got a very good seam attack and some high class batters in all conditions, so we know it’s not going to be an easy challenge, but we’re confident in the way that we play and the way we’ve gone about our stuff recently.
“There’s confidence and hopefully we can go all the way and come in a couple of months’ time to lift the trophy here.”
Less than 24 hours after a potential fifth day of the final Ashes Test, the vibrance of The Hundred will take centre stage and Pope is determined to make an impact in the third season of the short-format tournament, although maybe not right away…
“Hopefully we can spend a week celebrating or refreshing post-Ashes series,” he said with a glint in his eye.
“I’ve got every intention to play as much as I possibly can and as much as my body allows. Hopefully it’s in a good place after [The Ashes] and hopefully I’m in a good place as well. I’m keen to get cracking with it pretty soon after The Ashes and once I’m in and amongst that squad, I’ll be ready to dig into it and get really excited for that stint with with the boys.”
A number of matches across the Men’s and Women’s editions of The Hundred will be showcased live on BBC throughout the duration of the competitions.
We will be bursting with coverage once the tournament draws near, so stay tuned for all the latest information, scheduling and ways to keep up with some of the biggest names in world cricket slogging it out at a ground near you.
Coverage of The Hundred will be live across BBC TV, iPlayer, Sounds and online.
If you’re looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide, or visit our Sport hub.
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