Pope and England’s chance to prepare for life without Stokes
A lot has happened in the 23 days since England last played Test cricket.
They have sacked a white-ball coach and lost an opener, fast bowler and captain to injuries. The English game is mourning the death of Graham Thorpe. How apt, then, that another Surrey batter will lead England in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Manchester on Wednesday.
While Ollie Pope becomes the 82nd man to captain England in a Test, this will remain Ben Stokes’ team. When Stokes arrived at Emirates Old Trafford on Monday – shades on, white sweater draped across his shoulders like a cape, flanked by four members of the England party dressed in their black training gear, it was hard not to think of the wounded don surrounded by his henchmen.
England do not change captain very often. Since 2009, only four men have led England in Tests. In the same time, there have been seven different UK prime ministers.
The need for a stand-in has been rare, too. An England captain has not sat out through injury since Michael Vaughan 17 years ago, and just once in England’s past 177 Tests has the full-time skipper missed a match – when Joe Root was at the birth of his second child in 2020.
On that occasion, Root left a note for his deputy Stokes telling him to “do it your way”, and England promptly dropped Stuart Broad. The have been no such ructions this time around.
Pope will have been on high alert for the near two years he has been vice-captain, given the state of Stokes’ left knee before he finally had surgery in November. How ironic that once the knee is fixed, Stokes has succumbed to a hamstring injury. Old Trafford will end a run of 32 consecutive Tests for Stokes, the longest in his 105-match career.
For all of their talk of Ashes planning, Stokes’ injury has thrown England the opportunity to prepare for the Doomsday scenario of the captain being unavailable for the trip to Australia in little over a year’s time.
Without the need for a conclave, Pope was anointed as next in line for the Pakistan tour in 2022.
The 26-year-old was first touted as a future England captain by his former Surrey team-mate Scott Borthwick, who is close enough to Stokes to have been best man at his wedding. England team manager Wayne Bentley has carried around Pope’s captaincy blazer for the past year, just in case he had to step up in an emergency.
Pope has led England in warm-up matches, was very publicly involved in selection meetings on the outfield during the tour of India earlier this year and most recently has taken charge of Surrey in the T20 Blast, to go with one County Championship match three years ago.
Clearly, his experience of leadership in professional cricket is limited, but such is the way for modern England captains. There is no shortage of knowledge around him, especially with Stokes remaining in the dressing room throughout this three-match series. There is perhaps an argument Stokes should have stayed away to allow Pope to stand on his own two feet, even if Pope says Stokes won’t be a “backseat driver”.
While it is always intriguing to see how a new skipper goes about things, England’s method is ingrained, so we are unlikely to witness any radical changes. It is a blow to lose Stokes’ aura, personality and tactical creativity, yet it is also invaluable for Pope to learn the job in the event of another injury to the skipper, or for when Stokes is captain no more.
What Pope will soon realise, if he isn’t already well aware, is losing Ben Stokes the captain is as problematic as losing Ben Stokes the all-rounder. In that sense, Stokes really is irreplaceable.
When Stokes’ knee problems were at their worst, England either muddled through with Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali as all-rounders, or lost a little balance by fielding only four specialist bowlers.
It is therefore slightly curious that, on this occasion, England have chosen to replace Stokes with a seamer in Matthew Potts. If, say, Stokes had been fit to bat but not bowl, England probably would have reverted to only four bowlers, as they have in the past.
We can guess at the reasoning. With all due respect to Sri Lanka, England may feel they can get away with a slightly longer tail than if this was the first Ashes Test in Perth. Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith has already shown his potential to bat in the top six and Woakes, at seven, is probably the next best all-rounder in the country behind Stokes. Three Tests in three weeks is another reason to spread the pace-bowling load across four men, rather than three.
If the balance of the England team is sub-optimal, then so is asking Dan Lawrence to open in place of the injured Zak Crawley.
That is not to say Lawrence does not deserve his chance. He has spent so long making drinks as the spare batter he could apply for a job as a barista, and his attacking instincts make him a natural component of Bazball.
He came through the ranks at Essex as an opener and, should Crawley remain out for a while or Lawrence make an irresistible case to remain in the team, his off-breaks will be useful in Pakistan in October. Again, if the opposition were stronger or the stakes higher, perhaps England would have opted for a specialist like Keaton Jennings.
There are, then, stand-ins everywhere you look. Pope the captain, Lawrence the opener, Potts the seamer. Harry Brook is the substitute vice-captain.
Old Trafford has history for such scenarios. In 1999, Mark Butcher, another Surrey batter, deputised for the injured Nasser Hussain as England captain against New Zealand before being dropped for the next Test.
Pope will not suffer the same fate. He and England must take the chance to prepare for the unthinkable – life without Ben Stokes.
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