England’s interim Test captain Ollie Pope has expressed his belief that Brendon McCullum can replicate his transformative impact on the red-ball side with the country’s limited-overs teams. England cricket chiefs announced on Tuesday that the New Zealander will take charge of all formats from January, with his contract extended until the end of 2027.
Pope, speaking ahead of the third Test against Sri Lanka, highlighted the positive influence McCullum has had on the Test team. “We’ve seen the impact he’s had on us as a Test team and as individuals, which I think he can then transfer into the white-ball stuff as well,” said Pope. “He brings the best out of each other. He’s a real optimist and I think that’s really good in the cricket world. So, very exciting for English cricket overall.”
McCullum takes over white-ball teams that have endured disappointing setbacks, having surrendered titles in the 50-over and 20-over World Cups in the past year. When he assumed the Test captaincy in May 2022, England was struggling, having secured only one win in 17 matches. Under McCullum’s leadership, the team has embraced an aggressive, attacking style dubbed ‘Bazball’, resulting in 19 wins out of 28 Tests.
Pope, who has faced challenges with the bat in recent matches, credits McCullum with instilling confidence and freedom in his game. “He’s got a great outlook on the game in general and just being able to kind of draw a line under your best and your worst weeks as well,” said Pope, who is leading the side in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes. “I think that’s probably one of his biggest skills as a player, but now he’s sort of got that into his coaching as well. He’s a massive optimist.”
Meanwhile, England, leading the three-match series against Sri Lanka 2-0, has brought in left-arm seamer Josh Hull for the final Test at The Oval. The 20-year-old, who made his First-Class debut last year, replaces Matthew Potts. England is on the verge of a clean sweep of home Test victories for the first time since 2004, following their impressive 3-0 win over the West Indies earlier this year and a dominant performance against Sri Lanka.
Pope is confident about England’s prospects. “It’d be special to win 6-0 this summer,” he said. “And I think winning’s a habit, isn’t it? So I think going forward it’ll put us in good stead. And obviously we’ve got a lot more cricket to come.”
When asked if his captaincy duties were affecting his batting, Pope, who has scored only 30 runs in four innings against Sri Lanka, said: “To be honest, I don’t know. I think last week I played a pretty average shot in the first dig (innings), which could happen. But that’s nothing to do with the captaincy.”
