"Biggest challenge for Pope is managing without Stokes in his team" - Michael Vaughan ahead of ENG vs SL Test series

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has shared his views on Ollie Pope captaining the English Test side in Ben Stokes' absence for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. Vaughan feels Pope has a massive challenge ahead of him, but backed the youngster to handle it effectively.

Stokes tore his hamstring during The Hundred 2024 game between the Northern Superchargers and Manchester Originals, which has ruled him out of the three-Test series. The 33-year-old will hope to be fit for the Pakistan tour in October.

In his column for The Telegraph, Vaughan opined that the team already looks depleted without Stokes and that England face a conundrum regarding their combination.

"The biggest challenge for Pope is managing without Stokes in his team. The XI is immediately 25 per cent worse than the one Stokes usually has. They will have an early decision to make on whether they go in with a four-man attack, including a spinner, because the seamers are all a bit fragile, either towards the end or at the start of their careers."

With Pope set to captain England for the first time, Vaughan feels Brendon McCullum's support will be critical.

"Besides, there is no question that this is still Stokes’s team. Pope is just stepping in for a few games. Brendon McCullum might have to step up and be a bit more hands on as head coach to help Pope out, but he has lots of senior players around him like Root."

While Stokes' returns with the bat were mediocre in the series against the West Indies, he was bowling at full tilt.

"I'll admit Pope did not immediately strike me as a captain" - Michael Vaughan

The former right-handed batter also stated that although he did not initially view Ollie Pope as a future captain, the batter seems like a "terrific guy."

"In Stokes’s absence, Ollie Pope will step up. I’ll admit Pope did not immediately strike me as a captain. He’s always seemed a terrific guy, a really good man to have in your dressing room. There’s always been a bit of insecurity about his batting, with those skittish starts, and he can sometimes look like he’s got too many preconceived ideas about how he wants to play a situation."

While Vaughan admitted that the move to No.3 has been good for the Surrey batter, the cricketer-turned commentator still believes there is a lot more work to be done.

"But he is more than capable of becoming a really fine Test player, and has all the tools with the bat. He completely dominates when he goes back to county cricket with Surrey. He hasn’t totally nailed the top level yet but the move to No 3 has been good for him. He averages almost 45 in that position. The big challenge for him is dominating against the best teams."

The Test series against Sri Lanka begins on August 21 in Manchester.