Pope on captaincy, batting at three and white-ball ambitions

England's Ollie Pope insisted connected 1 point being crystal clear for nan Surrey squad he was astir to lead into T20 Blast action.

"I said ‘look lads, this is my first clip doing this. If you consciousness for illustration I’ve sewage thing wrong, conscionable travel to me. I don’t attraction if you opportunity I had a unspeakable crippled arsenic skipper – travel to me. I’d alternatively that than you bitch astir maine down my backmost for a time aliases two’.

"And that’s what everyone did,” Pope tells BBC Sport. “If they wanted to talk astir anything, I was sweet. I was open, if I did get it wrong, to guys coming up, because I’m learning connected nan job."

Pope's straight-talking attack speaks to galore of his champion qualities. It speaks to his humility. Here was England’s Test vice-captain, a shoo-in astatine first driblet and, likely, Ben Stokes’ successor, returning to a region dressing room – albeit his region – and requesting a small help.

It speaks to his individual development. And it speaks to his perceptiveness and innate expertise to return a room’s temperature.

"I've been portion of changing rooms wherever guys person sewage disappointment - not needfully now, but previously," says Pope.

"You suffer a fewer games, guys commencement talking, and abruptly they are getting disappointment astatine group wrong nan activity group. I cognize that conscionable makes things worse and worse, and things fester. I deliberation a squad wherever you tin openly criticise and springiness each different feedback will beryllium much successful successful nan agelong run."

At 26, Pope is an assured speaker and an expertise to mentally multi-task is simply a cardinal logic Surrey turned to him successful Chris Jordan’s World T20-enforced absence.

"Everything happens truthful quickly," Pope says, but nan truth that he is an arsenic "quick learner" helped.

"It was bully for maine to practise speaking a batch much to nan group aft nan game.”

Stokes anointed Pope his lawman conscionable complete 12 months back. The domiciled did not astonishment Pope, but that was only because he had been asked to capable successful arsenic skipper during nan pre-2023 Ashes warm-ups successful Abu Dhabi.

“I didn’t position myself arsenic a vice-captain, but I realised it was clip for maine to beryllium a spot much of a leader wrong this group," says Pope.

Pope’s Ashes summertime was curtailed by right enarthrosis surgery, having fallen awkwardly during nan Lord’s Test. But upon returning for nan New Year India tour, observers remarked that Pope’s demeanour had changed.

He was much comfortable addressing nan squad earlier play, and, during nan Hyderabad Test, gave Jasprit Bumrah a snarl – aliases astatine slightest arsenic adjacent to 1 arsenic nan affable Pope gets – erstwhile nan India bowler deliberately blocked his moving path.

"My assurance is growing," Pope says. "That comes done a spot of acquisition arsenic good and assurance cementing my spot successful nan team.

"I americium enjoying having nan responsibilities connected my backmost and I americium paying a small much attraction than successful nan past."

A displacement up nan bid to 3 has arguably been nan catalyst for Pope’s individual maturation spurt. Since first occupying nan position successful June 2022, Pope has made much than half of his 2,508 Test runs, averaging 42.20, there, compared pinch 34.35 crossed his 44 matches. His strike-rate is simply a twelve higher astatine 74.27 too.

The move came astatine his ain request. In his 3 Tests during England’s torrid 2021-22 Ashes tour, Pope averaged conscionable 11.17. That March he carried drinks successful nan West Indies.

Before nan summer’s New Zealand series, Surrey had a four-day crippled coming up.

"I knew action was coming up but didn't cognize if I was going to get nan call,” Pope explains.

"I saw Joe Root was going backmost to number 4 truthful successful my mind, for nan first clip successful my career, I thought ‘I consciousness for illustration a number three’."

Pope enthusiastically floated nan thought pinch Stokes.

"And he said, ‘oh no, don't interest astir it. You conscionable attraction connected scoring your ain runs.’ I’m reasoning ‘that’s not a bully sign’ – I thought it meant I wouldn’t beryllium successful nan squad."

Pope made his runs, notching up 417 successful six innings, batting astatine four.

"The measurement Ben dealt pinch it was great," he says. "There’s perchance only 1 ball's quality betwixt 3 and four. I don’t cognize if it’s made a quality but I was happy I made that call."

While world athletics is nary spot for complacency, it would return thing meteoric to dislodge him successful nan contiguous future. His 196 group up England’s opening Test triumph during their different gruelling India travel this winter.

Pope’s form, for illustration England’s, tailed disconnected and he made conscionable 95 runs crossed nan remaining 4 Tests.

“It’s a difficult 1 to describe,” says Pope, who called nan innings "a typical memory".

“You get backmost from that circuit and location are truthful galore antagonistic comments successful nan media, I felt, towards maine and towards nan team, which is wholly fine, I underperformed successful those games.

“People’s opinions alteration very quickly. We are world cricketers - it’s reliable to spell and execute each game, but it’s not ever arsenic easy arsenic group imagine."

Pope’s adjacent purpose is to gain an England white-ball cap. He travelled pinch nan one-day world squad to nan West Indies successful December but, for a 2nd consecutive Caribbean jaunt, spent match-days successful a bib.

It is, though, easy to hide that Pope made his sanction arsenic a T20 dasher.

"I deliberation I could deed a scoop and a reverse scoop erstwhile I started - that was astir it," Pope says.

"I consciousness for illustration I’ve added a spot much to my crippled now, and nan measurement we’re playing arsenic a Test broadside will thief me."

He hopes his T20 shape – he made 99 for Surrey against Sussex – and a beardown Test summertime will push his case.

"I'd emotion to effort and sound connected that door. Test cricket is ever going to beryllium a priority. There’s immoderate distant bid coming up that interlock wrong Test series, but I decidedly wouldn’t want to move down that opportunity."