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Malan’s 166 leads visitors to total of 384, Helm takes 4-8 as Glamorgan fall to 25 for 4 in reply

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2019Dawid Malan, the Middlesex captain, again led from the front as Middlesex recovered from 131 for 6 to reach 384 in their first innings. Malan scored 166 of those runs – his fourth Championship hundred this summer, his third score over 150 and taking his season’s tally to 933 runs.Malan was well supported by the tail, with Toby Roland-Jones scoring a half-century and Nathan Sowter a career-best 57 not out batting at No 10.In reply, Glamorgan were in disarray on 25 for 4 at the close on a day where the seamers obtained plenty of movement from a well grassed Sophia Gardens pitch, but apart from Michael Hogan and Lukas Carey the other Glamorgan bowlers were wayward and failed to advantage of the conditions.Tom Helm wrecked the Glamorgan top order by taking 4 for 8 from his opening four overs, which included the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, who has scored more than 1000 championship runs this season.Malan did not exercise his right to field first and might have regretted his decision when Middlesex lost four wickets in the opening session. Sam Robson and Nick Gubbins both edged catches off Lukas Carey, who bowled a useful opening spell of 7-1-20-2.Stevie Eskinazi struck 36 in quick time, but Graham Wagg, after an opening over that cost twelve runs, made amends in his second over when his second ball was deflected to wicketkeeper Chris Cooke, who took a tumbling catch.George Scott soon departed, leg before to Michael Hogan playing no stroke, but Malan was confident from the start and, partnered by John Simpson, began his team’s recovery they put on 58 for the fifth wicket.Malan, however, should have been out on 43, when, in the first over after lunch, Carey found the edge of his bat only to see the ball dropped by David Lloyd at first slip. It proved a costly miss as Malan and Roland-Jones shared a 90-run partnership.Roland-Jones was inches away from playing on from his first ball, but then settled to strike some lusty blows and scored 54 from 81 balls, including a six and nine fours.There then followed the best partnership of the innings as Malan found an unlikely ally in Sowter, whose previous best was 37. Playing some unorthodox shots he raced to 50 from only 40 balls, twice carving Marchant De Lange over the short cover boundary for six as the ninth wicket pair put on 103 from just 77 balls.After scoring 57, Sowter was struck on the hand by Wagg, and immediately left the field but, after Tim Murtagh was dismissed, he returned to resume his partnership with Malan. He did not face another ball, however, as Malan was caught on the boundary for an innings that included three sixes and 22 fours.Glamorgan had to face nine overs at the close, but soon lost Nick Selman and night watchman Carey in Helm’s second over, and when Labuschagne and Charlie Hemphrey went in the penultimate over, the follow-on figure of 235 seemed a long way away.

Kolkata Knight Riders were only in control as long as their spinners were bowling, as Sunrisers dominated the rest of the game to consolidate their position at the top of the table

The Report by Varun Shetty14-Apr-20183:54

‘Teams will struggle to figure Sunrisers out’

Sunrisers Hyderabad panicked and flailed in a chase again, but nowhere near as much as they had against Mumbai Indians on Thursday. Their captain Kane Williamson’s half-century, and his 59-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan sealed yet another win that was set up by their bowlers, who had managed to keep Kolkata Knight Riders to 138 for 8 in 20 overs. It was Sunrisers’ first away match of the season and their third victory in three games put them on top of the points tableKnight Riders had a sluggish start to the game after they were put in, and apart from Lynn’s 49 that stretched across a brief rain interruption, they barely had a foot in the game. That was until they realised their three-pronged spin attack was virtually impossible to score off. For much of Sunrisers’ chase, Knight Riders were calling the shots; but with every over of spin bowled, the Williamson-Shakib alliance grew more confident and a calculated acceleration against pace at the right time put to rest the prospect of a collapse-and-recovery style win.Knight Riders tie themselves up with their tacticsKnight Riders made all the team changes that were demanded of them: Vinay Kumar was left out along with Rinku Singh, and the teenage duo of top-order bat Shubman Gill and seamer Shivam Mavi came in.Sunil Narine did not have a good time against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday. Robin Uthappa did. So when Uthappa was pushed up to open – for only the second time since the end of the 2016 season – against a vastly superior fast bowling attack, it didn’t seem plausible that Gill and Mavi would end up batting one after the other, at No. 7 and 8.Shakib Al Hasan loops one up•BCCI

As it turned out, Uthappa’s plan to get his eye in from a familiar batting position didn’t work out. Chris Lynn and Nitish Rana brought the momentum with their second-wicket stand of 39, before a red-hot Billy Stanlake cramped Rana on the cut – his most productive shot of the evening – and had him lift one to Manish Pandey’s right at point. The former Knight Riders batsman took the first of two world-class catches with a lunge to his right and a grab on the second attempt as he fell towards the ground.It was at this point that Knight Riders made the mysterious punt of sending Narine at No. 4. Perhaps the decision was informed by the fact that they were going at less than seven per over, but it was a strange one nonetheless – Narine had only batted at No. 4 once before this innings. In the Pakistan Super League.If quick runs were the requirement, they didn’t come. When Narine well for 9, he had consumed 10 balls and hit only one boundary. It had caused a telling change in the batting order.Sunrisers stay true to characterAs expected whenever they go out, Sunrisers had clearly set roles for their bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was allowed to find swing early on, Stanlake was given the license to hit the deck hard, and Kaul was the pacer who would then go full. Perhaps the only way it didn’t go right was that Lynn enjoyed the predominantly back-of-a-length bowling that fed his punches through and over the infield as he backed away. But he was stopped on 49, trying to drive off that very same length against Shakib, who held on smartly to his left off his own bowling. The left-arm spinner had a dot-ball percentage of 44% through his spell and his two wickets forced Dinesh Karthik to drop anchor. Knight Riders tried to replicate their full-attack policy that had worked against Super Kings after they’d lost five wickets cheaply, but there was no coming back tonight. Stanlake got Andre Russell to splice one between point and third man, and Pandey was there once again, this time sprinting backwards before lunging to hold on.For the 10th time in 16 matches since the start of the 2016 season, Sunrisers managed to restrict a team to less than 150 while bowling first. And they did it despite Rashid Khan going for 31 and taking no wickets.A laboured chase
Every time Knight Riders had a seamer on, Sunrisers pummelled them. Every time a spinner came on, the scoring dropped drastically.Wriddhiman Saha had Sunrisers scoring at close to 11 an over halfway through the Powerplay, forcing Karthik to call on Narine, whose loosener down leg side found Saha’s edge.Knight Riders then discovered the magical effect of spin on this pitch. Between overs four and ten, Narine, Piyush Chawla and Kuldeep Yadav kept Sunrisers down to 30 runs while dismissing Shikhar Dhawan and Pandey. At 62 for 3 in ten overs, Sunrisers desperately needed boundaries. Williamson gave them that with a pull off the toe-end in the 11th over, following it up next ball with a more controlled shot. It seemed like the battle signal; Karthik turned to Russell in the next over and Shakib took his last three balls for 14.The eventual split between bowlers said the story: Knight Riders’ fast bowlers went for 79 runs in seven overs, while their spinners went for 60 in 12.Sunrisers sealed their first win at Eden Gardens with an over to spare, and it was the ninth win for a chasing team this season in ten matches.

English legspinner Mason Crane and fast bowler Trent Copeland were also among the wickets for New South Wales on the opening day

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2017
ScorecardPat Cummins dismissed Sam Raphael and Jake Lehmann on the first day•Getty Images

Pat Cummins claimed two wickets for New South Wales in his first Sheffield Shield appearance since 2011 but Callum Ferguson held South Australia’s first innings together on a rain-blighted opening day at the SCG.Overcast skies and a green-tinged pitch expected to spin later made it a tricky decision at the toss and, after South Australia captain Travis Head chose to bat, Trent Copeland was quickly into rhythm to claim Jake Weatherald lbw in the second over of the morning.Cummins followed up by defeating Sam Raphael, and when Copeland accounted for Head, the Redbacks were in some trouble. However Ferguson formed a series of useful stands with Jake Lehmann, Tom Cooper and finally the wicketkeeper Alex Carey to frustrate the Blues, even as Cummins added a second wicket to his day.The English legspinner Mason Crane deceived Cooper to fetch a wicket on his debut for NSW. The hosts must win the match outright to remain in contention for the Shield final.

Dale Steyn will make a return to competitive cricket after almost two months out of action on Saturday in a club game in Cape Town

Firdose Moonda23-Feb-2016Dale Steyn will make a return to competitive cricket after almost two months out of action on Saturday in a club game in Cape Town. Steyn will play for Western Province Cricket Club in the first day of a two-day fixture against St Augustine in order to determine his readiness for next month’s three T20s against Australia and the World T20.Steyn has been named in South Africa’s squad for the tournament despite being sidelined with a shoulder injury since pulling up during the first Test against England in December and playing just two matches since November. Steyn missed six of South Africa’s eight summer Tests – first with a groin injury he sustained in India and then the shoulder injury on comeback in Durban – and all the limited-overs matches against England.South Africa’s team management took extra care not to rush him back from injury fearing it would worsen their chances of having him for the World T20. Steyn returned to bowling last week and joined the squad for a team bonding session which involved shark cage diving and also a net session at Newlands. T20 captain Faf du Plessis said Steyn, “looks fully fit,” but a call could only be taken on whether he will travel to the tournament if he gets through the matches against Australia.Should Steyn not be available for the World T20, South Africa have put a bowler on standby. Although the selectors have not revealed who that is, Morne Morkel, who was left out the squad, is the likeliest candidate.

Former India batsman Ashok Malhotra was appointed coach of Bengal on Monday, after WV Raman returned to Tamil Nadu to take over as coach.

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2013Former India batsman Ashok Malhotra was appointed coach of Bengal on Monday, after WV Raman returned to Tamil Nadu to take over as coach.Malhotra is a level III coach, with experience of coaching India A. “Bengal cricket has been struggling for some time. There’s a lot of work to do. I truly believe we have the potential to make it count,” he said. “The real work will begin after we pick the side in September.”As a commentator for last nine years, I’ve been shutting between Delhi and Kolkata. But now, it’s like coming back home. I am so excited to return to Bengal. I personally feel I can give something back to Bengal cricket. I’ve given an opportunity and am looking forward to give my best.”Malhotra expected batsman Manoj Tiwary to come good for Bengal. “Manoj will be out for early part of the season. But once he is back he will deliver. My main worry is the spin department. We have a good bunch of pace bowlers but the spin attack is very weak. So my primary focus will be to build a good spin department.Malhotra said two important aspects of a coach’s job were man-management and ensuring that players who were experiencing a slump were given confidence. “If the dressing room is happy everything will fall into place. The advantage is in the dressing room the coach will speak in Bengali. From my personal experience, I have seen if you interact in mother tongue, then the players open up easily. That’s very important. We have to move as one unit.”Malhotra, a former selector, played seven Tests and 20 ODIs for India, and 156 first-class matches for Bengal and Haryana, scoring 9784 runs at 50.95. He also once held the record for the most runs in Ranji Trophy cricket.

South Africa’s batsmen have surged up the ICC Test rankings and occupy four of the top six spots after their colossal performance in the first Test at The Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2012

ICC Test rankings

• Batsmen: 1. Kumar Sangakkara (-), 2. Jacques Kallis (+2), 3. Hashim Amla (+3), 4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (-2), 5. AB de Villiers (-2), 6. Graeme Smith (+4)

• Bowlers: 1. Dale Steyn (-), 2. Saeed Ajmal (-), 3. Rangana Herath (+1), 4. Vernon Philander (+1), 5. James Anderson (-2), 6. Morne Morkel (+4), Ben Hilfenhaus (+1), Peter Siddle (+1)

• Click for ICC Test rankings

South Africa’s batsmen have surged up the ICC Test rankings to occupy four of the top six spots after their colossal performance in the first Test at The Oval. Jacques Kallis is at No. 2, Hashim Amla (3), AB de Villiers (5) and Graeme Smith (6). Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara remained No. 1, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul dropped two spots to No. 4. Kallis also unseated Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan as the No. 1 allrounder in Tests.Kallis’ unbeaten 182 in South Africa’s 637 for 2 moved him up from No. 4 in the ranking for Test batsmen. Amla, whose 311 was a South African record, rose three places while Smith climbed four places from tenth. De Villiers, who did not get an opportunity to bat in the innings-and-12-run victory, dropped two spots from third.Among the England batsmen, Alastair Cook moved from ninth to eighth because of the 115 he scored in the first innings at The Oval.There were significant gains for South Africa’s bowlers as well after they took 20 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series. Dale Steyn, who took seven wickets in the match, consolidated his place at No. 1 and is six points short of his career best rating – 902, which he achieved against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park in 2011.Morne Morkel’s five wickets lifted him from tenth to joint sixth with Australia’s Ben Hilfenhaus, while Vernon Philander rose one spot to fourth place.All of England’s bowlers, who took only two wickets in 189 overs, dropped in the rankings. James Anderson went from No. 2 to No. 5, Stuart Broad from third to ninth and Tim Bresnan slid one place to No. 15. Graeme Swann’s wicketless performance cost him three places from No. 8 and he dropped out of the top ten for the first time since August 2009.South Africa need to win the series by any margin to take the No. 1 Test ranking from England.

A late collapse left a frustrated Netherlands 15 runs short of Scotland’s 255 in the first of two one-day internationals to be played at Mannofield Park in Aberdeen

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA late collapse left a frustrated Netherlands 15 runs short of Scotland’s 255 in the first of two one-day internationals to be played at Mannofield Park in Aberdeen. After rain marred the Intercontinental Cup tie between the two at the same venue from June 21 to June 24, the sun was finally out in Scotland and the teams’ moods would have brightened even more when they heard the news from the ICC annual conference that the Associates had been reinstated to the 2015 World Cup.By the end of the game, though, Netherlands would have been disappointed, as for the majority of their chase they looked favourites to win. Alexei Kervezee’s 49 off 52 balls had led them to a strong position before offspinner Majid Haq struck thrice to give Scotland the edge. Netherlands recovered from that phase though and it looked like Tom Cooper and Mudassar Bukhari would take them home. With 27 required off 35 balls, and four wickets in hand, Bukhari, who had smashed 41 runs off 23 balls, could not get out of big-hitting mode and swung at a delivery from seamer Josh Davey. The ball went off the toe of the bat, Neil McCallum held the catch at extra cover, and Netherlands panicked.Cooper, with only the tail for company now, looked to finish the game quickly but couldn’t middle the ball. Majid came back on in the 46th over, and conceded just two runs while dismissing Tom Heggelman. Pieter Seelaar just couldn’t get off strike and Cooper, batting on 71, had to watch 10 deliveries go for just three runs from the other end. Seelaar was finally removed by Davey, and when Cooper finally got to the right end he couldn’t get Majid away. The required-rate kept climbing and eventually forced Cooper into an improvised shot, which he missed to lose his leg stump. That gave Davey his third wicket and Scotland the win.Scotland had elected to bat and were given a solid start by openers Kyle Coetzer and Fraser Watts. The two rotated the strike well in a partnership of 86 from 17.5 overs. Coetzer went on to complete his half-century and contributions from Calum MacLeod and Preston Mommsen put Scotland in a position to make a big score. Netherlands pulled thing back a bit, though they owed the Scotland batsmen some gratitude for some poor shots. Coetzer and Macleod were both dismissed trying rash shots off Heggelman, who finished with three wickets. Seelaar kept things tight from one end but a late charge from Gordon Drummond, who scored 20 off just nine balls, took Scotland to a competitive total.Netherlands’ innings seemed to shadow Scotland’s till the 37th over. They built a solid base, lost wickets in the middle and after 37 overs were 167 for 5 compared to Scotland’s 165 for 4 at the same stage. That’s when Cooper and Bukhari looked like they were going to take the game away from Scotland. Bukhari, in particular, was ruthless; he smashed 17 runs off an over from Gordon Goudie, including a six that went over square leg and into the parking lot. Scotland, though, held their nerve through that assault, and when they broke the partnership they immediately put the squeeze on and Netherlands crumbled.

Six months ago Graham Onions was pencilled into England’s Ashes squad, but his hopes of taking on Australia in November are now hanging by a thread after the toughest time of his career

Andrew McGlashan30-Jun-2010Six months ago Graham Onions was pencilled into England’s Ashes squad, but his hopes of taking on Australia in November are now hanging by a thread after the toughest time of his career which began with him being dropped before he developed knee and back injuries.Onions’ last act in an England shirt was to heroically survive the final over from Morne Morkel at Cape Town to secure the team a last-gasp draw for the second time in three Tests after he had fended off Makhaya Nitni at Centurion just over two weeks before. However, just days after his Newlands rearguard he was surprisingly omitted at Johannesburg and since then his year has gone from bad to worse.He arrived in Bangladesh with what started as a minor back problem but was later diagnosed as a stress reaction that could have developed into a fully blown stress fracture. Although that worst case scenario hasn’t occurred Onions, who also had surgery on his knee problem, hasn’t played this season and is unlikely to take the field before September, which leaves him precious little time to secure a berth to Australia amongst a crowded England pace attack.”The last few months have been massively frustrating,” he told Cricinfo. “When you’ve had a place in the team for a while and you lose it it’s hugely disappointing and hurts a lot. Before the injury everything had been like a dream for me, all I ever wanted to do was play for England, but the last six months have been tough. Now it’s about me channelling that frustration.”The rehabilitation is going well, but I can’t give you a definite answer of when I’ll be back,” he added. “I had a bit of a rest when I came back from Bangladesh, but probably tried to come back a little too early. It’s just a case of doing all I can and there are three our four Championship matches in September which I am aiming for. Fingers crossed by mid-August I will be bowling pain free.”In Onions’ absence England’s pace ranks have been swelled by the emergence of Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad. Finn is a certainty for the Ashes after his impressive start to Test cricket, while both Bresnan and Shahzad have a good chance of travelling along with the established pair of Stuart Broad and James Anderson.There could be one more fast-bowling slot on the plane, but this England management team are unlikely to take a risk on anyone who has had a recent serious injury and Onions knows he faces a race against time.”It’s out my hands,” he said. “If I can play in September that’s as good as I can aim for at the moment. Then if I get wickets it’s up to the selectors to decide. That’s all I can ask for, and ask of myself. If I’m not fit I won’t be selected and that’s fair enough, but if I can take a few wickets I can give myself a chance.”But although it has hurt for Onions to watch others enjoy success for England, he has been very impressed with the recent performances of the bowling until. “It hasn’t just been Steven Finn, Shahzad has started well and Bresnan, who is a good friend, has done really well.”Now those three need to stay injury-free and keep winning games,” he added with a hint of ruefulness. “They are all producing the goods and the England team is a great place to be at the moment.”Sadly for Onions, he isn’t part of it at the moment and it could be a while before he finds his way back. Graham Onions officially marked the start of the npower Urban Cricket World Record Attempt in Nottingham, where 2010 children participated in a mass game of cricket to set a New World Record

India B were propped up on Musheer Khan’s magnificent 181 in the Duleep Trophy game in Bengaluru

Shashank Kishore06-Sep-2024Until last week, Navdeep Saini hadn’t touched a red ball for over seven months. He was hoping to ease himself into the season with a steady diet of white-ball cricket courtesy of the Delhi Premier League (DPL). But when the Duleep Trophy call-up came, as a late replacement for Mohammed Siraj, he had to hit the ground running.Two days in, Saini has already had a bigger influence on the game than he may have imagined. A mix of stoic defence and the occasional free swing brought him an excellent half-century, his second in first-class cricket. He occupied the crease for 349 minutes, his longest vigil, during the course of a magnificent 205-run stand for the eighth wicket with Musheer Khan as India B recovered from 94 for 7 to post 321.Saini’s contribution was massive in helping Musheer build from an overnight 105 to a majestic 181. But that was one-half of his efforts on the second day’s play in Bengaluru. He later delivered a telling early spell with the new ball to send Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal back. India A then recovered to finish on 125 for 2 still trailing India B by 187 runs.KL Rahul and Riyan Parag added an unbroken 68-run stand for the third wicket for India A•PTI

Gill was out shouldering arms to an in-ducker that flattened his off stump for 25, reminiscent of his dismissal to Australia’s Scott Boland in last year’s World Test Championship final. Agarwal’s wicket for 36 was slightly lucky; made possible thanks to Rishabh Pant’s agility as he threw himself to his left to take a catch down the leg side to dismiss the opener who had tantalised the audience with a series of superb cover drives. Riyan Parag and KL Rahul, playing his first red-ball game since the Hyderabad Test against England in January 2024, then put together an unbroken 68-run partnership, allaying the early jitters.Related

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Rahul’s was largely an exercise in denial after being lucky twice. Still on zero, he could have been Saini’s third wicket when he nearly dragged a ball back on to the stumps while attempting a loose drive. Then, on 3, he was reprieved by Nitish Kumar Reddy at third slip after poking at an away-going delivery from Mukesh Kumar. Rahul scored his first runs off his 14th delivery and it wasn’t until the fag end of the day, when he unfurled a superb cut behind point off Reddy, that he finally seemed in his element.Rahul’s methods also had something to do with the appreciable movement Saini and left-arm seamer Yash Dayal were able to get. Either way, having been on the field for a better part of the game already, there couldn’t have been a bigger endorsement of the middle-order batter’s match fitness as he eyes a return to the Indian Test squad.Parag was a little more sprightly, even though he was occasionally troubled by the late movement on offer. He survived a close lbw shout early off Reddy when the ball curved away to hit him high on the back leg. Like Rahul, Parag is a stroke-maker but his willingness to show fight and deviate from his natural game was an encouraging sign.Musheer Khan finished with 181 for India B•PTI

There were less encouraging signs as well from India A, like the tactics employed by their captain. Having taken the new ball at the first available opportunity at the start of the 81st over, Gill spread his field out to both Musheer and the No. 9 batter Saini. This not only limited the bowlers’ ability to exert pressure, but it also helped India B push their total ever higher.After Musheer initially denied himself run-scoring opportunities in trying to farm the strike, he was encouraged by Saini’s ability to hold his own. The pair, however, got lucky when they were involved in a comical mix-up didn’t somehow result in a wicket. Both batters were stranded mid-pitch looking at each other in the fourth over of the day, the 83rd of the innings, after Musheer had pushed the ball to point. Khaleel Ahmed, who could’ve thrown at either end, eventually went for the striker’s and missed with Saini having long given up.As Musheer opened himself out to take all the available runs, Gill tried to unsettle him by placing a leg slip. Musheer responded by hooking Avesh Khan for six, and then followed it up with a superb pull in front of square for a boundary in the same over. Along the way, Musheer also made judicious use of DRS to overturn two decisions – one lbw and one caught behind.Musheer brought up his 150 off 326 balls when an overthrow allowed a second run with no one backing up. It summed up the state of play at the time, with India A running short of ideas. Soon after the landmark, Musheer launched Parag for a massive six over deep midwicket to signal a change in intentions.But a double-ton wasn’t to be as he fell in the second over after lunch, a ball after he had slog-swept Kuldeep Yadav onto the roof at deep midwicket. Two of Musheer’s three first-class hundreds are now 150-plus scores. This one, like the others, served to reiterate his maturity and hunger at 19.

Stokes urges his deputy to take vice-captaincy “as seriously as I did”

Matt Roller05-Jun-2023Ben Stokes has implored Ollie Pope to take his new role as England’s official vice-captain “as seriously as I did” as concerns around Stokes’ fitness linger ahead of the first Ashes Test on June 16.Stokes reiterated before England’s 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s that he intends to play a full part in all five Tests – “unless I can’t walk, I’ll be on the field” – but he did not bowl a ball in the match and was in clear discomfort on the final day, appearing to jar his troublesome left knee when taking a catch.Stokes has only bowled once since returning from the IPL, a 20-minute spell in the warm-ups ahead of the third and final day of the Test on Saturday, and it appears increasingly possible that Pope will deputise for him at some stage this summer, even if only for a brief period of time.Related

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Pope has only captained one first-class match – an end-of-season County Championship fixture for Surrey – but has been groomed as future leader for more than six months. In Stokes’ absence, he captained England in both of their warm-up games over the winter: against the Lions in Abu Dhabi, and a New Zealand XI in Hamilton.When Rob Key became England’s managing director last year, he said that he was “not concerned with having to appoint a vice-captain” and that it was “low down on my priorities” but has gradually become convinced of the importance of the role – not least when observing Moeen Ali’s influence within England’s white-ball set-up.Stokes and McCullum told him last month that they wanted Pope to be made vice-captain in a formal capacity after deputising in the winter, and his appointment was ratified before the Ireland Test. “It really shows where Ollie Pope is – how far he’s come in a year,” Key said.On Pope’s promotion, Stokes said after the Ireland Test: “[We had] given him more responsibility over the winter, using him more out on the field, running things by him about what I think. Then we just naturally came to a decision together. And he’s excelled as a player and taken responsibility at No. 3.”I just thought it was the right time to finally, officially, name a vice-captain and Popey was the man for it. I think it will do him the world of good, getting a double-hundred on his vice-captaincy debut.”Stokes’ own reinstatement as vice-captain four years ago “meant the world” to him•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Pope said that he saw the role as “a big honour” but that it would not represent a major change from the winter. “From what I was doing before, it doesn’t make a big difference,” he said. “I’m going to give my opinion and challenge Stokesy when he needs challenging. We’re going to be tested in the Ashes along the way, so it’s not always about going on and agreeing with him.”It’s about providing a different opinion to let ponder in his mind as well. Nothing’s really changed. He’s got a pretty clear vision, and he’s got 15 guys in that changing room who know our roles now, so that’s helpful for everybody.”Before his own appointment as captain last year, Stokes had served as Joe Root’s deputy in two separate spells. He cared deeply about the position, which he lost in the aftermath of the street fight outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017 that briefly threatened his career.He was reinstated in the weeks leading up to the 2019 Ashes after texting Tom Harrison, the then-chief executive of the ECB, to ask if he was eligible for the job. “Forty-eight hours later, I had Ashley Giles, the England managing director, in contact to offer me the position once more… it meant the world to me,” he wrote in his book, .”It’s a role that I took very seriously,” Stokes added on Saturday evening, “and I told him, I want him to take it as seriously as I did. That’s why me and Joe worked so well together: I didn’t take it just as a badge, almost, and we rubbed off [on] each other really well so I’m encouraging Popey to do the same role that I did.”Pope won the match award against Ireland at Lord’s•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Pope believes that Stokes will do everything in his power to be on the field at all times this summer, but said that he feels “confident” he would be able to “implement the same ideas” as his captain if the situation arises.”Fingers crossed Stokesy’s body’s all good,” Pope said. “It’s going to take a hell of a lot for him not to be on the pitch even for a day’s play, knowing what he’s like.”But if it did happen, I feel confident. We’ve played a lot together as a team over the last year and a bit, and he knows a lot how he wants the bowlers to operate, the kind of fields he sets, and tries to get players to hit balls in areas that they don’t normally want to hit [them] in.”So I’ve got a pretty good understanding of how he runs things now and, if needs be, can implement the same ideas.”