Ollie Pope, the vice-captain of England, discussed his approach to handling criticism and maintaining form, particularly after scoring runs against India at Headingley. He focused on his natural playing style to reach his best batting form. Amidst debate about replacing him with Jacob Bethell, the team showed their support for Pope.
Pope stated, “I’ve tried not to let it affect me too much, to be honest. I’m well aware there’s probably a fair bit that’s been said, but for me, I’ve just been trying to make sure my game’s in as good a place as possible, and when I get in, I try to make sure I make the most of it.”
He added, “I’ve tried to let the outside noise do its thing and just try to make sure my game keeps improving, and I get my headspace in a good place too.”
Speaking on the early stages of the series, Pope mentioned, “Look, it’s early in the series, and there’s a lot of stuff to be done. And I think I’ve had some really good series, and I’ve had some not-so-good series, so I think that’s just kind of the way.”
He further said, “I guess starting at number 3, you might get a ball with your name on it, and you might think I’m out of nick when you’re not. I think my approach is just trying to take each game as it comes and, yeah, hopefully, continue cementing that spot.”