Stand-in captain Pope 'not hiding' from poor form

Stand-in England captain Ollie Pope says he is “not hiding” from his poor form after a highest score of 17 in his past five Test innings.

Pope, 26, has led England to a series victory over Sri Lanka, but managed only 30 runs in his two matches in charge.

“That’s the way cricket is sometimes - form comes and goes,” said Pope.

“The best players are the ones who can draw a line under it. Hopefully I can put a score together.”

Pope has stepped up to lead England for the first time in the absence of captain Ben Stokes, who is missing the Sri Lanka series with a hamstring injury.

In the opening two Tests of the summer against West Indies, Pope made a century and two half-centuries in three innings, only to struggle since.

England won the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s by 190 runs, with Pope contributing scores of one and 17.

After the first innings, former England skipper Michael Vaughan said Pope is “not the kind of personality I'd want as the England captain”.

Surrey’s Pope said he was “not surprised” his position has attracted debate.

“Chatting to Stokesy before this series, when you’re captain you attract a lot more,” said Pope.

“It’s important to block it out and stay close with the people around me.

“There are a lot of voices, a lot of guys who want to have their say, past cricketers as well. That’s completely fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

After setting Sri Lanka a record target of 483 to win the second Test, England needed eight wickets on the fourth day to complete victory.

They bowled the tourists out for 292 just after tea on Sunday to seal their second series win of the summer and fifth successive Test success.

If England win the final Test at The Oval, which starts on Friday, they will earn a 100% home summer for the first time since 2004.

“It would be a pretty cool thing to look back on after a summer of six Tests and having won them all, if we can do it,” said Pope.

“We've played some really good cricket throughout this summer after a tough winter away in India. To get used to winning games back to back is really pleasing for us.”

Pace bowler Gus Atkinson continued a stellar start to his England career with 5-62 in the Sri Lanka second innings.

Atkinson also made his maiden Test century in England’s first innings and so became only the third England man, after Lord Botham and Tony Greig, to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same Test.

“I'm pretty inexperienced and I'm sure there will be harder challenges going forward,” Atkinson, 26, told BBC Sport. “The intensity is a big step up.

"It is a long time since I got a hundred anywhere so to get it here is pretty special. I look forward to challenging myself more.”

For Sri Lanka, this was a seventh consecutive Test defeat by England. It also ended a five-match unbeaten streak at Lord’s, with a run of five draws going back to 2002.

Captain Dhananjaya de Silva admitted he made an incorrect decision at the toss, when he opted to bowl first.

“Our top order had struggled in the first match and I was thinking I should give them a break,” Dhananjaya told Test Match Special.

“It's always disappointing to lose as a team. There's a lot we could have done better. We are a much better team than we have shown this week but I trust my boys to bounce back at The Oval.”