England should try Stokes at No. 3 in Tests instead of Pope, opines Vaughan

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Former England captain Michael Vaughan said the side should try to make skipper Ben Stokes bat at number three in upcoming Test assignments in place of Ollie Pope, who he feels is lacking in composure. In England’s disappointing 2-1 series defeat to Pakistan, Pope managed to score just 55 runs across three matches at an average of 11. Their next Test assignment will be a three-match tour of New Zealand starting from November 27.

"Pope is a good player, and a great lad who clearly brings a lot to this environment, which places great stock in togetherness and getting on well. Making a big change like this is never easy, and England will not want to. But his returns suggest he does not have the mentality or technique to thrive against the very best bowlers. "Playing spin at the top level is hard. I've said before that I think Pope has a fragile mentality. He’s not alone in that, and that is fine. But when your mentality is fragile, you need your technique to fall back on. It looks after you on your bad days, which there are a lot more of than good ones in Test cricket," wrote Vaughan in his column for The Telegraph.

Talking about why Stokes, who made 37 runs in four innings in Pakistan, seems to be his choice to bat at number three in Tests, Vaughan stated, "This might seem a strange time to suggest that, given he has had another poor tour against spin. But England won’t face as much spin for a while, and Stokes has an outstanding defence against seam, and clearly isn’t going to bowl too much. Stokes is the one player who could soak up pressure." Vaughan also thinks with Australia and India set to play five-match Test series against England next year, they would relish taking out a struggling and frentic Pope quickly with the new ball to have a crack at blowing away rest of the batting order.

"If Pope and England are honest with themselves, they have to recognise that even his best innings have lacked control. I enjoy watching him bat when he’s in, because there’s lots of strokes and it’s exciting. But it’s full of risk. "Next year, England play against India at home and Australia away; that is 10 Tests against the very best bowlers and I think they need to have a real conversation about whether he can succeed. 'I don’t think he’s been consistently good enough to survive. Unless England think they can change his technique to make it simpler, and allow him to become calmer at the crease, then it is time to change."