Pope eyes comeback ahead of England’s Test summer
Ollie Pope believes his best is yet to come after a difficult Ashes series Down Under that saw him lose his place in England’s Test team as the visitors went down 4-1. The 28-year-old had endured a torrid time during the series, scoring 125 runs across his three Test appearances in Australia.
As the dust settles on a tour that led to questions over England’s commitment to the cause, Pope is looking to go back to the drawing board and put himself in a better shape in case a potential England call-up comes his way in the summer when New Zealand and Pakistan tour to play Test cricket.
And it is during Surrey's County Championship campaign that the batter is looking to regain his touch.
"It's a great time for me – we've got a block of seven games for Surrey in the Championship. I want to make sure my game keeps improving, keeps developing,” Pope said as he was speaking at Surrey's county media day.
Pope evaluated the decision by team management to replace him with Jacob Bethell during the tour, understanding the reasoning behind it but also adding that he was ready for the challenges ahead.
"I knew where I stood. Getting dropped was tough, but it was the right decision at the time.
"The chats were just to go back and score a load of runs, then if I'm not in the England XI, make sure I'm the best batter in the country. If something happens, it's about making sure I'm the man to come in. I've played a lot of Test cricket, 64 Tests, but I still feel like my best batting years are to come,” he added.
The heavy series defeat left England in a difficult position in the ICC World Test Championship standings with just three wins in ten matches in the 2025-2027 cycle.
A lot of focus went into England's seriousness for an all-important Ashes campaign, but Pope reiterated that the team's priorities were right.
"We want to be a well-liked team on and off the pitch and unfortunately our performance didn't allow that to happen in Australia," said Pope.
"I can understand why people felt that way. The perception that we weren't fussed was probably the hard thing. Every individual is trying to manage the pressures of an Ashes series and get the best out of their performance.
"All everyone wanted to do was win. I guess maybe at times in our minds it was taking the pressure off the actual Test match, as we have done in previous tours, to treat it like a normal series to get the best out of ourselves. Unfortunately, it didn't quite go to plan,” he added.
Reflecting on his individual performances, the 28-year-old felt that a deviation from his trusted methods led to a dip in the scores.
"I wouldn't say there was a massive technical thing, I was probably just too eager to put the bowlers under pressure without necessarily realising it at the time. But when I look back and reflect on it, that's probably the mistake that I made,” he said.
"There are a couple of soft dismissals, probably in the second and third Test, where I look back and I think that's pretty uncharacteristic for me for when I'm playing well,” he added.
Pope will now have red-ball County Championship fixtures for Surrey to bank on for a return to the Test setup ahead of England's summer fixtures.
ICC
