Jacob Bethell will get the chance to play his way into England’s Ashes opener during next month’s white-ball tour of New Zealand, but Rob Key denies there is “an elaborate scheme” to unseat Ollie Pope.
Pope’s grip on the pivotal number three shirt has been the source of intense scrutiny for most of the year and, although he held the spot for all six Tests this summer, there are no guarantees that he will remain in place against Australia.
Tuesday’s decision to name Harry Brook as vice-captain for the series, a role Pope has held for the past three years, further loosened his grasp and a run of three T20s and three ODIs in New Zealand could settle things.
Bethell is on that trip and Pope is not, meaning only one of the candidates has a chance to finesse their pitch.
England’s managing director, Key, admitted as much while insisting Brook’s promotion does not equal a done deal.
“There are no other ulterior motives other than the fact that we think Harry is the best person to be the best vice-captain,” he said.
“There is not an elaborate scheme where if we take the vice-captaincy off Ollie Pope it makes him easier to drop.
“It doesn’t matter if you are vice-captain or not; if we don’t feel you are the right person wherever you are batting – whether that’s an opener or at number five – we’ll end up bringing in someone we think can do the job better.
“At the moment, Ollie Pope is the man in possession and we’ll find out what that XI will be probably two days before (the first Test). We tend to leave the decisions as late as possible.
“We’ll see a bit more of Jacob Bethell in white-ball cricket. I think we know a fair amount about Ollie Pope but Jacob will continue to get experience. We’ll just learn more and more the more Jacob plays.”
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