"He made some pretty brutal changes" - Ollie Pope on Brendon McCullum's radical decisions ahead of the England home season
England stand-in skipper Ollie Pope admitted that head coach Brendon McCullum signed off on some 'brutal' changes to take the red-ball team forward ahead of the ongoing home season. Some key decisions regarding personnel have been made in recent months, with James Anderson's retirement and the ousting of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes as wicketkeeping options.
While Anderson was going strong and was among the wickets, he was nudged to step away of his own accord by England's top brass, inclduing McCullum. England have been forced to adapt in recent times following Ben Stokes and Zak Crawley's untimely injuries. However, they have coped well so far, maintaining an unbeaten record in home season with four wins on the trot.
The primary reason behind the changes is the fact that England want to prepare a team capable of tackling Australia in their own conditions by the end of next year.
"We have made some slight adjustments and obviously there has been a couple of injuries as well with Ben Stokes and Zak Crawley up top. They are just unfortunate injuries that happen. At the same time, it is a great opportunity for others guys to come in and get the go that they deserve," Pope said ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka.
"With what Brendon (McCullum) did leading into this summer, he made some pretty brutal changes that he thought would take the team to a better place moving forward," he added.
Ollie Pope was not among the runs in the series opener after being dismissed for six runs across both innings. He admitted that leading the team out as captain felt like a second debut for him, despite serving as vice-captain of the side and being in the leadership circle for quite a while now.
"It is almost like that kind of debut feeling again. But at the same time, I really enjoyed the week. Obviously the runs didn't come for me, but for the team to get the win, that is the most important thing. I think the first time you do anything like that, I remember I was knackered after day one and I hadn't done anything but fielded," Pope elaborated.
England have made one change to the playing XI for the second Test against Sri Lanka. Right-arm pacer Olly Stone returns to the setup after Mark Wood was ruled out of the remaining two Tests of the series.
"We don't use the term 'Bazball', but we played quote 'a different style of cricket'" - Ollie Pope
After a rather breezy 3-0 whitewash over the West Indies, England were made to work hard for the win against Sri Lanka in Ollie Pope's maiden endeavor as skipper. The visitors were able to build a lead in the second innings courtesy of Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal's heroics.
While chasing the target of 205, England found themselves at 113-4. The minor spot of bother, considering that they were playing a batter short, was quickly thwarted by Joe Root and Jamie Smith as the hosts won by five wickets.
"I think we showed last week. We don't use the term 'Bazball', but we played quote 'a different style of cricket' and I think that is something that can keep taking us forward as a team. When we can be ruthless, we have got to try to be ruthless just to win as many games as possible. Other days we will go out and score a little more freely and potentially take the wickets in a shorter amount of time.
The second Test between England and Sri Lanka is scheduled to begin from Thursday, August 29 onwards at Lord's.