England have confirmed that Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series after suffering a shoulder injury.
The Surrey star picked up the issue when diving for a ball in the early part of the second test vs Australia at Lord’s. He did manage to bat in both innings, but was in the treatment room for England’s fielding effort during the 43-run defeat.
And in a statement released ahead of the Headingley test, England have confirmed Pope will play no further cricket this summer. The 25-year-old is now due to go under the knife and will aim to recover for the winter.
The statement reads: “England and Surrey batter Ollie Pope has been ruled out of the rest of the LV= Insurance Men’s Ashes Series after dislocating his right shoulder during the second Ashes Test at Lord’s last week.
“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.”
Pope, like many of his England team-mates has produced starts in the first two tests, but failed to go on to get a big score. In the first innings at Edgbaston he scored 31, while he reached a serene looking 42 at Lord's before succumbing to Australia's short-ball plan.
England’s number 3 was named as Ben Stokes' vice-captain at the start of the summer and scored a stunning double century in the curtain raiser against Ireland last month.
The news comes as a bitter blow to the hosts who are aiming to become the first side to win the Ashes after losing the first two tests since the Aussies managed it in 1936/37. Stokes said that was the only thing on his side’s mind after the tempestuous and controversial defeat at the Home of Cricket.
"All we're thinking about is winning the series 3-2," Stokes said after his sensational 155 failed to steer England over the line. "It's very exciting to know that the way in which we are playing our cricket actually couldn't be more perfect for the situation we find ourselves in - we have to win these three games to get this urn back.
"We are a team who are obviously willing to put ourselves out there and do things against the narrative. So now these next three games are an even better opportunity for us than we've ever found ourselves in before."
The third test in Leeds promises to be a hostile one with the furore surrounding Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal rumbling on. The England wicketkeeper was controversially stumped by his opposite number Alex Carey, despite not attempting to complete a run.
England coach Brendon McCullum admitted relationships between the two sides had been seriously impacted and assured Australia they would regret breaching the ‘Spirit of Cricket’.
He said: “I imagine it will affect it [relationship between the teams], I think it has to. In the end, they made a play, they’ve got to live with that, we would have made a different play but that’s life.”
McCullum added: “It’s a huge moment in the game and I think with the benefit of time and maturity as a player you understand how vital the spirit of the game is to this great game that we play,” said McCullum. “You make decisions that you sometimes look back on and say did I get that right?”
