England face an Ollie Pope dilemma – should they stick or twist?

Ollie Pope has enjoyed a winning start as a stand-in captain, but the new role has shone a spotlight on his form with the bat that could make his position vulnerable.

Many of the greats of the game have batted at number three, the likes of Ricky Ponting, Steve Smith and Brian Lara, and England will hope Pope can get close to that.

Pope’s year has been one of feast or famine, he has scored two hundreds, including a stunning 196 in Hyderabad, but now has 12 scores of less than 25 to go with it. Those runs have come at an average of 33.35, which has led to questions being raised about the 26-year-old.

England have remained resolute that Pope is the vice-captain, tipped to become the next leader of the side, but his form when he has taken charge has been unconvincing. He has one Test victory, but after three innings, he has faced just 34 deliveries and scored a meagre 13 runs.

Pope is not a natural number three, and despite averaging more than 40 in the position, he has already become immersed in an ongoing battle against the role’s demands. He broke through into the Surrey first XI as a middle-order batter and that was where he was first selected for England. When Joe Root decided in 2022 that he would return to his preferred number four, the only vacant spot in the batting line-up was at number three, and Pope dutifully filled it.

Ahead of the Lord’s Test match against Sri Lanka, with England 1-0 up in the series, Pope had been open about the struggles of balancing batting and captaincy, taking advice from former skipper Joe Root. With Ben Stokes looking on from the balcony as he fights to return from a torn hamstring sustained while batting for the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, Pope has stepped up for the three-Test series.

On the first day of the Test, Joe Root struck a masterful 143 before he was out trying to reverse scoop, with Gus Atkinson adding an unbeaten 74 after scoring his first Test half century, as England finished having been put in to bat on 358 for seven.

After making just 12 runs in his first two innings, Pope came to the crease in the seventh over when Dan Lawrence, opening in place of the injured Zak Crawley, was out cheaply. He lasted just nine balls, scoring one run before he miss-timed a pull shot and was caught out.

In Pope’s 84 Test innings, he has been out 32 times in the first 20 balls, only three of the 112 batters who have been in England’s top seven 25 times, have a higher failure rate.

However, should England choose to move on, there is not a clear answer as to who could take the place. Keaton Jennings has scored 879 runs in the County Championship this year, at an impressive 60.20 average, and last toured with England during the 2022 series in Pakistan, but his strike rate of 57.22 is less than Bazball England would like.

Jordan Cox, called up to the international squad for the first time against Sri Lanka, has scored his 904 red-ball runs at a strike rate of 71.57 and an average of 75.33, which could see him become a regular spare batter, especially when Lawrence has yet to post a significant total in the series. Rob Yates is another who might be pushing for an England call up, after scoring his maiden championship century aged 19, and has an average of 32.62 from his first 66 red-ball matches.

England under Brendon McCullum and Stokes have also regularly disregarded County Championship form in deciding who to call up into the England squad, and have already moved on Jonny Bairstow and retired James Anderson this summer. Could they make another big change?

Ultimately, Pope’s space in the side is not under immediate threat. Being labelled the “hero of Hyderabad” definitely buys time, and there is not another clear candidate for the number three position, but it is something to consider ahead of the visit of India next summer, and the Ashes next winter.