'I tried to change too much'- Ollie Pope opens up about his Ashes struggles

England middle-order batter Ollie Pope has opened up about his struggles in Test cricket over the last 15 months ahead of his comeback to the team for the New Zealand series.

Pope, who rose to prominence with brilliant performances in South Africa during the 2019 winter, endured a horrendous phase last year against the high-quality attack of India, New Zealand and Australia in tough conditions.

Since his return to the team following a shoulder injury, Pope has averaged just 20.36 in his last 20 innings, which includes a disastrous Ashes outing where the Surrey cricketer managed just 67 runs at 11.16.

Pope has admitted that he was guilty of trying too much rather than sticking with a set process.

"I tried to change too much rather than stick with what I'm good at."

Having reflected on his errors, the right-handed batter is quite confident that he can achieve success again at the international cricket.

"I wouldn't say I let the occasion get to me, but I tried to change things too quickly rather than stick to what works for me and what I was doing. A massive part of me wishes I could go back and do it again," said Pope, as quoted by The Mirror.

"Hopefully, I look back at that experience come the end of the summer because I have a great chance to put things right now," he added.

Pope will bat at the No.3 spot in the upcoming series against the Blackcaps despite having never batted at the position in his First Class career.

However, Pope revealed that he came up with the idea of batting at 3 after it was confirmed that Joe Root moved back to his favoured No.4 spot.

Pope pitched the idea to skipper Ben Stokes, and after receiving a favourable response, he asked batting coach Marcus Trescothick if he could bat at 3 for Surrey.

While Trescothick didn't heed his request, Pope is confident that he will perform the difficult role well after being endorsed by his teammate Hashim Amla.

"Hash felt I was ready for the move, and so do I," he added. "A year or two ago, batting three, I might have said, 'ooph, that's high'. But with the work I've done, I feel ready for that opportunity now," he said.

"I know I haven't done it [before], but the way I have been going about my innings this year, my game is definitely suited to it. I feel I have the game to bat higher. I do think I'm ready for this challenge to get up the order and get my hands dirty, dictate the innings early, set up games," the Surrey batter added.

England will kick start their home summer against New Zealand at Lord's from June 2.