It was two months ago when Harry Brook became the new vice-captain of England in Test cricket for the upcoming five-match Ashes Test series against Australia, to serve as the deputy of captain Ben Stokes
down under. The 26-year-old, who already has the responsibility of white-ball captaincy of England, replaced Ollie Pope in the Test vice-captaincy role and now, the latter stated that he respects the decision from the management if they think it’s the right thing to move the team forward.
Notably, in the absence of Ben Stokes in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in August at home against India due to injury, Ollie Pope captained England but his team ended up losing the match by six runs to draw the series 2-2. Following that, the England team management decided to make Harry Brook the Test vice-captain with their director of cricket Rob Key calling him a “better leader” than Pope.
Absolutely fine by me and I respect the decision they've made: Ollie Pope
In his recent comments after scoring 100 and 90 for England in the intra-squad warm-up match for against England Lions, Ollie Pope addressed the vice-captaincy of England in Test cricket. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “If they think that's the right thing for the team going forward, and obviously Brooky captaining the one-day stuff and the T20 stuff as well, that's absolutely fine by me and I respect the decision they've made.”
With the Test form of Ollie Pope under question for quite some time, it was important for him to be under the runs ahead of what could be a grueling Ashes over the next couple of months. The right-handed batter also pointed out what the warm-up match means to him and said, “I always take a bit away from warm-up games. Even if I miss out, there's always something to take from it. I'm someone who likes time in the middle just to get myself ready for a series. I found it really beneficial.”
