England still Stokes' team, says stand-in skipper Pope

Ollie Pope says England are still Ben Stokes’ team, despite the batter taking charge for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka.

Regular captain Stokes misses out after injuring his hamstring playing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

Pope, 26, will become England men’s 82nd Test captain in the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford on Wednesday, but Stokes is remaining with the squad throughout the series.

“He leads us and he’s still in the changing room,” Pope told BBC Sport. “It’s great to have him around.

“None of the messages are going to be different, we’re not going to play any differently. I’ll just be getting similar messages across, in my own way.”

The England Test captaincy seldom changes hands. Pope will become only the fifth man to take the job since 2009.

England rarely need stand-ins, either. Only once in England’s past 177 Tests has the regular captain missed out, when Joe Root was at the birth of his second child in 2020.

On that occasion Stokes stepped in, with Root leaving a note telling him to “do it your way”.

Surrey’s Pope continued: "That's probably the difference - I've had no message in my locker, but I'm sat next to him in the changing room.

“He's going to let me go do my thing over the course of this series, which is good for me. At the same time he's obviously going to be watching, so I can have those conversations in the intervals if I think anything needs to change. It’s only a positive having him around.”

Pope has played 46 Tests and been Stokes’ deputy for almost two years. He steps up to lead England despite only previously skippering Surrey in one first-class and eight T20 matches.

“Having the vice-captaincy role has given me the opportunity to get my head around it if this opportunity came about,” he said.

“I’ve thought about it on the pitch, watched Stokesy closely as to how he manages the bowlers and the way he goes about it in the changing rooms. There are a few little bits I’ll take from him. It’s not a massive issue that I haven’t captained a lot in first-class cricket.”

Along with all-rounder Stokes, England are also missing opener Zak Crawley, who broke a finger on the final day of the 3-0 series win against West Indies last month.

In their absence, Dan Lawrence will open the batting and Matthew Potts has been named as an extra seamer. Harry Brook steps up as Pope’s vice-captain.

England’s last Test at Old Trafford, against Australia last summer, was ruined by rain, ending the home side’s chances of regaining the Ashes. The forecast this week is mixed for Sri Lanka’s first Test in this country in eight years.

“I've not looked too closely at the weather because if it rains, it rains, but it's not going to change the way we necessarily go about it,” said Pope.

“A 3-0 win is always the target. If we can keep playing our best cricket, like we have, then hopefully we can look back in three or four weeks and that’s the end result.

"They would have watched us, and how we’ve played in the West Indies, and they will be ready to throw some punches themselves. If we can play our best cricket, hopefully we can get that 3-0."

Sri Lanka, who have former England batter Ian Bell in their coaching staff, are handing a Test debut to seamer Milan Rathnayake.

And the tourists' captain Dhananjaya de Silva said his side "maybe" have a better chance of success because of Stokes' absence.

"He's the key player for them," said De Silva. "We have a good chance.

"It's a long time since we last played here, but we have experienced players. I know the conditions and I have an idea of what we have to do.

"We are a going for a win and that is the only thing on my mind."

Before play on day one there will be tributes to former England batter Graham Thorpe, who died earlier this month at the age of 55.

There will be a video played on screens inside the ground and a moment's applause will be held.