Ollie Pope admits England ‘shot themselves in the foot’ during third Test defeat to Sri Lanka as stand-in captain says they ‘weren’t good enough with the bat’
Ollie Pope conceded England ‘shot themselves in the foot,’ following the meek surrender to Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval.
Pope, deputising as Test captain due to injury to Ben Stokes, agreed his team ‘weren’t up to it,’ after relinquishing the advantage of a 62-run lead at the match’s halfway point via a second-innings implosion.
‘On the third day, we shot ourselves in the foot. Obviously, we’re ahead of the game after two days and weren’t able to capitalise,’ Pope said, after defeat by eight wickets reduced series victory to a 2-1 margin.
‘With the bat we weren’t good enough. Credit to Sri Lanka. They bowled well, made some good adjustments in the second innings, and we weren’t up to it.
‘It should have been a game that we drove forward, we were in the commanding seat there, but I wouldn’t say it’s a lack of an edge or not really having that desire to go and put together a massive score.
Ollie Pope conceded England ‘shot themselves in the foot’ in the third Test against Sri Lanka
‘It can just happen in cricket, and it’s been a good gap since we last did that. But things moved forward quickly, probably in the wrong direction for us.’
Gus Atkinson, England’s find of the summer, claimed the one wicket to fall on Monday as Sri Lanka moved from their overnight 94 for one to their 219-run target courtesy of Pathum Nissanka’s masterful, unbeaten hundred.
However, Atkinson, 26, bowled with his thigh heavily strapped and will now sit out the five one-day internationals against Australia this month as a precaution ahead of October’s tour of Pakistan. Olly Stone has taken his place in the squad.
There was another injury scare for England pre-play when debutant Josh Hull underwent a fitness test on a quad muscle twinge, but the Leicestershire left-armer has been retained to face the Australians in both Twenty20 and 50-over cricket.
Stand-in captain Pope admitted his side simply weren’t good enough with the bat
The 10,000 people that paid between £75-110 for a ticket for yesterday’s limited action were handed 50% refunds because fewer than 30 overs were bowled.
But Surrey might be the biggest beneficiaries of the early finish as Mail Sport understands an extra 24 hours rest means England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith will be permitted to feature at Twenty20 finals day this weekend alongside Pope and Dan Lawrence.
Surrey are also in negotiations with the ECB for the temporary release of Jamie Overton from England’s T20 squad. England face the Australians in Cardiff and Manchester either side of Saturday’s Edgbaston extravaganza.
