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 Ollie Pope A Long Term Captaincy Prospect Or Just A Stepping Stone To Make Way For Harry Brook?

England Team-(X.com)England Team-(X.com)

England will kick-start their three-Test match home series against Sri Lanka on August 21, when the Three Lions lock horns against the Island Nation at Old Trafford, Manchester. 

Both teams have announced their playing XI. For England, they will be without regular skipper Ben Stokes, who has been ruled out of English summer because of a hamstring injury he suffered in The Hundred recently. 

Surprisingly, the Three Lions did not look back at Joe Root, who has the most appearances for England as a captain(64). It is worth noting that Root stepped down in 2022, which led England to look at Stokes, who has done incredibly well and has a win percentage of 62.96.

But with England going for Pope, is it a sign that they are looking at him as future captain or is he just a stepping stone for Harry Brook, who has been named as the vice-captain for the upcoming series? 

Pope And Brook's Stats

Unfortunately for Pope, who will lead England for the first time, the 26-year-old is unlikely to be the future captain, as he hasn't performed up to expectations as a batter. The right-hand batter has just 2690 runs in 46 games, averaging 35.4.

On the other hand, Brook has been exceptional with the bat recently, as the 25-year-old enjoys an average of 59.9 with 1378 runs in 15 matches. 

To conclude, the ECB would not be in any hurry to replace Ben Stokes in the near future, and the likes of Harry Brook have to wait a little further to be given captaincy. But Brook is one of the leading candidates to replace Stokes in the future.

Recently, Ollie Pope too refereed to England as 'Stokesy's Team'.