Alastair Cook has asked England’s selectors to keep faith with Ollie Pope at first drop when the Ashes begin in Perth on 21 November. Speaking at TNT Sports’ launch event on Tuesday, the former captain argued that replacing Pope with the up-and-coming Jacob Bethell would be a risk England do not need to take.
“I would bat Ollie Pope at No. 3,” Cook said on Tuesday, at the launch of TNT Sports’ Ashes coverage. “I think it’s quite an easy decision on this, actually. You’ve got someone who’s been part of this build-up for three or four years, he’s captained the side, he’s played some extraordinary innings for England and he’s a hundred-maker.”
Pope’s recent returns have been mixed. After back-to-back hundreds against Zimbabwe and India in May, he has managed only one fifty in eight Test knocks. Bethell, who covered for Jamie Smith’s paternity leave in New Zealand last November, impressed early with three half-centuries in his first three Tests but could not seize a brief opportunity at The Oval, scoring 6 and 5 while standing in for the injured Ben Stokes.
Cook’s view is that short-term form should not outweigh long-term investment. “If you get rid of him now, I think that changes the whole dynamic of what they’ve built up over the last year, how settled they’ll feel for that top seven… If it doesn’t work out, do you then move back to somebody you just got rid of, confidence-wise? I think it’s easy to go the other way, and I think that would be the sensible thing.”
He added that selecting Bethell on limited-overs success alone would be a stretch. “They’ve invested so much in people like Pope and Crawley that it’d be such a strange thing to change it now.”
Vice-captaincy shuffle
Brendon McCullum and the management team have already trimmed Pope’s official responsibilities, naming Harry Brook as vice-captain for the tour. The switch has been read in some quarters as a hint that Pope’s place is shaky. Rob Key, England’s managing director, insists the choice is not “an elaborate scheme” to drop him, and has left the final XI open until the week of the first Test.
Cook thinks the change might even help. “I think that will just take the pressure off Ollie Pope,” he said. “I’m sure it will have hurt him, because any time you get taken off a leadership [position], it wouldn’t be ideal. But I don’t think it undermines him.”
Opening act matters
Beyond the No.3 debate, Cook believes England’s aggressive opening pair of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley could shape the series tone. “Australia will be so respectful of Crawley and Duckett, and what they can do to impact the game,” Cook said.
For Crawley in particular, Cook sees value that pure averages may miss. “Crawley is a different opening batter to what history says you need: a guy who is very inconsistent and averages 30 but, on his day, plays an innings which I don’t think anyone else in the world can play at the top of the order… Against bowling which suits him – he prefers the ball coming on at a good pace.”
What happens next
England’s provisional squad leaves for Australia in early November. Bethell will have six white-ball matches against New Zealand, starting Saturday, to remind selectors of his case. Pope gets no further first-class cricket before Perth, so his training-camp form will come under the microscope.
Cook, player of the series when England last won down under 15 years ago, sees a simple call: maintain the existing top seven and bank on continuity. The final decision, as ever, will wait until the most senior voices – McCullum, Stokes and Key – stand on the outfield in Perth and name the team sheet.
