Ollie Pope said he remains hopeful of making a return to the England team after being axed from the side during the Ashes 2025-26. Pope said that him getting dropped during the Ashes was the right call as England ended up being thrashed 1-4 by Australia. After scoring only 125 runs across six innings in England’s 4-1 Ashes loss to Australia in January, Pope was left out of the sidewith Jacob Bethell stepping in at No. 3 for the final two Tests.
At the moment, Pope’s path back into the team remains uncertain as Bethell has excelled England in all three formats for the gamewhich includes an Ashes hundred in Sydney and a 105 against India during the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2026.
“I guess I knew where I stood,” Pope said.
“Getting dropped is tough. I didn’t want to get dropped of course, but it was the right decision at the time.”
Despite being dropped, Pope said that communication with coach Brendon McCullum and Director of Cricket Rob Key has remained clear. The 28-year-old said that the aim will be to take his game to the next level and keeping himself ready for his chance.
“For me the chats were just ‘go back, score loads of runs,'” he said.
“If I’m not in that XI, can I make sure I’m the best batter in the country? I can take my game to another level, and make sure if something happens, it’s making sure I’m the man to come in.”
POPE KEEPS BELIEF
This will be the first time since 2022 that Pope will start a county championship season outside the Test squad. This has also seen him lose his role as the vice-captain of the team with Harry Brook taking over the role.
“I still feel I can become a better player to bat at number three if something were to happen,” Pope said. “But we’ll see how the next few weeks pan out and going into the season.”
“My summer, I’m not 100% sure what it looks like going forward. We’ve got a block of seven games for Surrey in the Championship, so I just want to make sure my game keeps improving, developing, for if and when the England stuff comes around again.
“It’s different when you’re not constantly playing in the test matches. To have a block like this, I can go back to what really works well for me and make sure my game is in as good a place (as it can be),” said Pope.
During 2025, Pope only scored 602 runs from nine matches at an average of 37.62.
– Ends
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