Ollie Pope: Surrey and England batsman to miss majority of season after dislocating shoulder

Ollie Pope will have surgery on his dislocated shoulder next week

Surrey and England batsman Ollie Pope is expected to miss the majority of the season after dislocating his shoulder.

Specialists have advised the 21-year-old to have surgery next week after he was injured while fielding against Essex in the One-Day Cup on Tuesday.

Surrey hope the right-hander will be able to return to first team cricket towards "the back end" of the season.

Pope made his Test debut against India last August and helped Surrey win the County Championship title last season.

The news comes a day after England limited-overs international Sam Billings suffered the same injury while fielding for Kent against Glamorgan.

Billings also requires surgery and could be out for up to five months.

While not included in any of England's recent limited-overs squads, Pope will have been hoping to push for a Test batting line-up place for the Ashes this summer.

Ollie Pope received his first England cap from Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart at Lord's last year

He impressed on the Lions tour of India during the winter and also made 251 for Surrey against the MCC in Dubai in March.

After just 15 first-class appearances, he was handed his Test debut last season, batting at four against India at Lord's.

But after just 54 runs in three innings, he was dropped after England's 203-run defeat in the following Test at Trent Bridge.

He returned to his county to amass 986 County Championship runs at an average of 70.43 as they sealed their first title win since 2002.