Former England player Michael Vaughan said that while Ollie Pope was a good vice-captain, he was not cut out to be the England captain. Vaughan pointed out that Ollie Pope was not a natural leader which made it difficult for him to have that influence on that team in the 5th Test vs India. With the Ashes coming up in 3 months, Vaughan said that he feels that Harry Brook can take up the captain’s mantle if regular skipper Ben Stokes couldn’t play.
England team recently finished a five-match Test series against India, and will soon face Australia in The Ashes. Ben Stokes is the regular captain of the English team, but missed the final clash of the series and voce-captain Ollie Pope stepped up as the captain for that match. However Ollie Pope’s skipper record wasn’t impressive during the final Test match as India went to draw the series 2-2 . Ollie Pope’s batting in the entire series was also not so impressive as he scored only one century and one half century in 10 innings across the series.
Ollie Pope, stand-in captain in this Test and someone with an extraordinary first-class record at The Oval, entered the fourth day needing a big score to stamp his authority and drive England towards victory. Yet what unfolded was yet another second-innings failure from the right-hander as he was dismissed for 27. The numbers are damning. Ollie Pope has now batted 46 times in the second innings (3rd / 4th innings), where he averages 19.81.
Just how bad is it? Well, turns out, Ollie Pope is statistically the worst batter in history in the second innings of Test matches. No batter who has batted at least 45 times in the third and fourth innings of Tests has averaged lower.
Michael Vaughan suggests Ben Stokes not to appoint Ollie Pope as a deputy during Ashes 2025-26
England were leading the series 2-1 after India drew the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Old Trafford, Manchester. But going into the decider at The Oval, a shoulder injury ruled Ben Stokes out of the game, and Ollie Pope replaced him as captain. But the latter couldn’t lead the side to a series victory. India, in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, pulled off a thrilling 6-run win to end the series in a 2-2 draw and returned home with their heads held high.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan expressed his disappointment over Pope’s captaincy in the final Test. Speaking on the Stick To Cricket podcast, Vaughan opined that Ollie Pope thrives as a vice-captain but lacks the leadership qualities required to lead the team in high-pressure situations. He proposed Harry Brook as a better alternative should Stokes be unavailable for the upcoming Ashes series, set to begin in three months.
“We don’t laud how good some vice-captains are. (Marcus) Trescothick was the best vice-captain. I think Ollie Pope is a brilliant vice-captain. But he’s not a captain. And by giving him the captaincy, I can see it a mile off. He’s not a natural leader out in the middle,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan further stated that if Stokes misses out on a Test match during the Ashes series in Australia due to a certain reason, then it won’t be a good idea to let Ollie Pope lead the side. Instead, he proposed the name of Harry Brook.
“I saw that last year against Sri Lanka. I have seen it again this week. Say you get to Perth and Ben Stokes, the shoulder or you know, his body’s in bits. Anything could happen with Ben. Fingers crossed he’s fine, but just say you go to Perth and Ben can’t play. I can’t have Ollie Pope walk in as skipper. But I can have Harry Brook because I see a natural leader,” he added.
Brook scored 481 runs at an average of 53.44 across the five-Test series against India, including a fluent 111 at The Oval on the final day. He was subjugated as England’s Player of the Series by Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Coming back to Ollie Pope’s struggles in the second innings, he has crossed the 50-run mark in the third/fourth innings just twice in the Bazball era. One of the two instances was the 196 away in Hyderabad, which was one of the finest knocks played by an Englishman away from home.
Since that 196, though, Ollie Pope has passed 50 in the 3rd / 4th innings just once in 16 attempts. And he’s averaged an eye-watering 14.93. In this ongoing India series, Pope has been a complete non-factor in the second innings, with his scores reading 27, 4, 24, 8. He might be captaining England in this Test, but it won’t be an overstatement to claim that Ollie Pope’s spot in the first team will NOT be guaranteed heading into the first Ashes Test in Perth.
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