Ollie Pope ruled out for rest of Ashes following shoulder dislocation
Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the remainder of England’s Ashes campaign after dislocating his right shoulder during the second Test at Lord’s last week.Pope, who has twice suffered shoulder dislocations in the past, underwent a scan in London on Monday, which revealed the full extent of the injury, He will undergo surgery and will miss the final three Tests against Australia, before beginning his rehabilitation under the guidance of the England and Surrey medical teams.Having damaged the shoulder diving for a ball on day one of the Lord’s Test, Pope aggravated the injury on day three after the umpires insisted he take the field after batting in England’s first innings, scoring 42. It was a situation that left England frustrated, with Jeetan Patel, England’s spin coach, acknowledging that England would have had to field with ten men had he not fronted up.Related
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“It’s a pretty tough situation when you nearly bust your shoulder and you’re told it was an external [injury],” Patel said. “It was always going to happen. He’s so committed to this team. He was always going to fall on something. And now he’s back off.”Pope is also England’s designated vice-captain, although that leadership gap is straightforward to fill, with Stuart Broad likely to step up as Ben Stokes’ deputy, having fulfilled the role unofficially last summer. A bigger issue, however, is who now steps into the vacant No. 3 spot at Headingley.Despite averaging 22.50 across four innings against Australia, Pope has averaged 45.25 at first-drop since Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum took charge at the start of last summer. Now, with England 2-0 down and facing a must-win match to keep the Ashes alive, there is an unwanted problem to solve at the top of the order.Speaking at Headingley on Tuesday, Joe Root lamented the loss of Pope, and did not rule out a return to No.3, a position Root has not assumed since relinquishing the captaincy before the start of last summer.
“Ollie has been phenomenal over the past 18 months. He’s stepped up as vice-captain and the more responsibility that has been given to him we’ve got more out of him as a player. He’ll be a big miss for us. He’s a hell of a player and a great mind to have in the group – Ben gains a huge amount from having him as vice-captain. Of course, it will be a big loss. He’s been an integral part of this team and will continue to be for many more years to come.”I feel like the last couple of years, I’ve got a very good understanding of my game. I’ve said many times before, it’s my turn now as a senior player to give back to everyone else that had to put up with me as captain for so long and doing it my way. I’m there to go and try to score runs in whatever position that is, and try to get us back into this series.”Dan Lawrence is the closest thing to a like-for-like replacement. He is the only spare batter in the squad, with England choosing not to name a replacement in their squad, and has also been in sound domestic form, scoring 491 runs at 44.63 for Essex with two centuries.Dan Lawrence is set to come in for Pope at Headingley•Getty Images
The last of the 25-year-old’s 11 caps came under Root’s tenure during the Caribbean tour in March 2022. A 91 in the second Test against West Indies at Bridgetown underlined his qualities. Having bided his time with squad places under Stokes, he could be in line for a Bazball debut. While Root was not in a position to reveal how England will mitigate for Pope’s loss, with Stokes expected to name an XI on Wednesday, he did champion Lawrence’s merits to step into an Ashes and perform.”He’s in good form as well,” Root said. “Got 150-odd for Essex in the last Championship match (152 against Warwickshire) He had a great touch there where he walked off the field and got in his car and came down to Lord’s, he didn’t have to field.”He’s in a good mood, in good spirits and in good form as well, which is always nice when you’ve got guys on the periphery or next in line that are scoring runs and feeling good within their own game. That’s a nice position to be in.”You’ve seen a glimpse of what he can do in Test cricket, he scored a brilliant 90-odd and got out last ball of the day when he looked nailed on for a hundred there, in Barbados. He’s got a very exciting career ahead of him whenever that opportunity arises for him. He’s got that steeliness about him where he wants to succeed at that level. He’s got a great game to go with it, so it’s an exciting prospect.”Another option could be to re-introduce Moeen Ali to the side following his finger injury as Pope’s replacement, pushing the rest of the batters up the order, which would mean Root batting at three. Harry Brook could also be considered for the role though there may be a reluctance to shift him from number six after an indifferent start to the series, with 132 runs at 33 from four knocks.