Ollie Pope Accepts England's Decision to Replace Him as Ashes Vice-Captain

As of November 16th, 2025, Ollie Pope has accepted England's decision to replace him with Harry Brook as the team's vice-captain for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia. Pope had been serving as deputy to Test captain Ben Stokes for the past three years, stepping up to lead the team on five occasions, including England's last match against India in July.

However, when the squad for the tour of Australia was announced in September, the Surrey batter was demoted, with the England cricket director Rob Key explaining that Brook, who became the limited-overs captain over the summer, is a "better leader." Despite the change, Pope says he respects the decision, stating, "If they think that's the right thing for the team going forward, and obviously Brooky captaining the one-day stuff and the T20 stuff as well, that's absolutely fine by me."

In the lead-up to the Ashes, Pope made the most of England's only warm-up match in Perth, scoring 100 and 90 against the England Lions. The 27-year-old revealed that he has "worked" on "a couple of little technical bits" of his game, though he did not provide further details. "Just smoothing out a few areas," he said.