Ollie Pope reverts to Vaughan's 'insecure' remark as England wins 2-0 against Sri Lanka

The England Test team treated Sri Lanka to a 2-0 whitewash under the interim captaincy of batter Ollie Pope. The two-match red-ball series was defined by the heroics of Joe Root and Gus Atkinson, who both made significant contributions to the record books. However, amidst the praise for Root and Atkinson, stand-in skipper Ollie Pope faced substantial criticism for his performance. The top-order batter managed just 30 runs across the four innings of the two Tests against Sri Lanka, as he appeared to struggle under the captaincy. Notably, Pope had the support of England’s regular captain, Ben Stokes, off the field, as the all-rounder remained in the English dressing room despite his leg injury.

Michael Vaughan calls Ollie Pope 'insecure', criticizing his captaincy against Sri Lanka

Ollie Pope scored 1 and 17 in the first match of the series, with dismissals that seemed uncharacteristic for a seasoned batter. In the first innings, he top-edged a reckless pull shot to square leg. In the second innings, he was caught at deep point after top-edging an uppercut. Ahead of the Sri Lanka series, Pope had emphasized that batting would remain his top focus despite the added responsibility of leading the team. However, as the series progressed, it was Pope’s captaincy that ran smoothly, contrasting sharply with his performance with the bat. Amid Pope’s struggles with the bat, former English great Michael Vaughan offered blunt criticism.

"I don't like him as the captain," Vaughan said in a podcast. "He's not the kind of personality I'd want as the England captain. He's quite an insecure human being— a great team guy and person, but throwing the captaincy on him has added to the pressure. He was doing great at number three,” Vaughan added.

Ollie Pope 'not surprised' at Vaughan's criticism

Ollie Pope responded to Vaughan’s criticism and the general scrutiny after securing a 2-0 win for England on Sunday. The stand-in captain exhibited a nonchalant attitude in reaction to Vaughan’s remarks. The 26-year-old batter acknowledged that he anticipated criticism when he took on the captaincy from Stokes on a temporary basis. Pope also noted that Stokes and his teammates supported him by helping him stay focused despite the surrounding chatter during the series.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "Chatting to Stokesy before this series, when you're captain as well, you're going to attract a lot more [criticism]. To be honest, it is just important to block it out and keep staying close with the people around you. There's a lot of voices, a lot of guys who want to have their say—some past cricketers as well—and that's completely fine,” Pope added.

"Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but it's important for us as a team and me to stay and keep trusting the people in the four walls, because that's not going to help me get back into my best form. Sometimes, when you have two bad games, it can feel a lot worse than it is because of the noise that's surrounding it,” Pope further explained.

"For me, it's just trying to stay as level as I can and keep on trusting the people around me, putting my work in, and not really overthinking it, to be honest. When I went and made good runs in that West Indies series, that's exactly how I was playing, so there's no real need for me to get too involved in what people are saying,” he concluded.

Ollie Pope will return to domestic cricket later this week as England prepares for the Pakistan series slated for October. Pope has been experiencing a lean patch in form for quite some time. However, with the county championship ahead, the batter has an opportunity to regain his form, as he will be playing at his home ground, The Oval. Pope, with a current average of a modest 38 in international red-ball cricket, will be returning to The Oval after two years.