Ollie Pope Accepts Ashes Dropping as Right Call, Defends Team

Ollie Pope, the England batsman dropped midway through the recent Ashes series in Australia, has acknowledged that his omission from the team was the correct call at the time, while defending his squad's dedication amid a 4-1 defeat to the hosts.

The 28-year-old Surrey player was removed after the third Test of the 2025-26 series, where he averaged just 20.83 across his six innings, including scores of 0, 26, 3 and 17 in the second and third matches. Critics pointed to a series of soft dismissals and an overly aggressive approach at the crease. Jacob Bethell replaced him and went on to score a century in the fifth Test at Sydney. Pope, who has 64 Test caps and briefly captained England during Ben Stokes's injury absence in the 2025 home summer, had retained his No. 3 position earlier in the season with strong performances against Zimbabwe, India and in an intrasquad warmup. However, pressure mounted after Bethell's debut success in New Zealand, and Harry Brook took over as vice-captain ahead of the tour.

Speaking at Surrey's preseason media day ahead of the County Championship, Pope reflected on his exit without bitterness. "I didn't want to get dropped, of course, but it was...