England batter Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the entire Ashes 2023 series after his right shoulder dislocated during the second Test match against Australia. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) released an official statement on Tuesday to announce Pope’s absence in England’s remaining campaign.
“Scans in London on Monday revealed the full extent of the injury and he will miss the rest of the summer campaign and will require surgery. He will work closely with the England and Surrey medical teams in respect of his rehabilitation. England will not call up a replacement for the third Ashes Test, which starts at Headingley on Thursday,” read ECB statement.
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Pope initially damaged his shoulder as he dived to stop the ball on day one of the Lord’s Test, Pope injury further aggravated on day three after the umpires insisted that he he should take the field after batting in England’s first innings.
According to ESPNcricinfo England were willing to accept sliding Pope straight down to the number 7 spot in the batting order and use a substitute fielder which is the standard process when a player is off the field for a brief period of time. But that option was not offered by match officials.
Umpires’s decision left England frustrated, and England’s spin bwoling coach Jeetan Patel revealed that England would have had to field with ten men if Pope didn’t turn up on the field.
“It’s a pretty tough situation when you nearly bust your shoulder and you’re told it was an external [injury]. It was always going to happen. He’s so committed to this team. He was always going to fall on something. And now he’s back off,” Patel said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“It’s a bit messy, if I’m being honest with you. We’re probably as frustrated as everyone else that was out there that saw what happened and he’s probably more angry at the situation than anything else,” Patel added.
Pope is also England’s vice-captain, although that leadership gap could be straightforward to fill, with Stuart Broad likely to step up as Ben Stokes’ deputy, after he fulfilled the role unofficially last summer.
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