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Ben Duckett paid tribute to stand-in England captain Ollie Pope for shutting down the sceptics with a timely Test century against Sri Lanka.
Duckett fell 14 short of his own century on day one at the Kia Oval but joined his team-mates in roaring Pope over the line from the team balcony.
Pope finished unbeaten on 103 as England motored to 221 for three in a day reduced to just 44.1 overs by bad light and rain, the perfect response to questions over his ability to balance his role as skipper with the demands of batting number three.
In his first four innings deputising for the injured Ben Stokes he averaged just 7.50 but his seventh Test hundred, in oppressively gloomy conditions, told a different story.
“It shouldn’t be the case but there has been quite a lot of noise around Popey in the last couple of weeks,” said Duckett.
“To block that out and score an incredible hundred was so good. You could see that from his emotions as well and we’re all extremely happy for him.”
The whole ground rose as one to celebrate Pope as he marked his 12th first-class ton on his home track but just a few moments later the cheers had turned to boos.
After a near three-hour delay earlier in the day, the umpires’ decision to take the teams off with less than half of the scheduled overs bowled went down like a lead balloon among fans who had paid handsomely for tickets.
The debate over bad light regulations continues to attract impassioned debate, with many feeling Test cricket is too precious about its playing conditions, but Duckett sided with the officials.
“It’s very easy to sit there as a supporter and want to see more cricket but, if it does get really dark and more dangerous, we’re the ones out there playing,” he said.
“It does have a big impact when those lights are fully on and the ball starts nipping around a bit more. It’s got nothing to do with us because you don’t get the option any more. The umpires take us off and you have to respect the decision. We’re going to have to go by their rules.”
Duckett was sanguine about his own dismissal, which came during a passage of sustained aggression from the left-hander.
He dipped into his limited-overs playbook as he began stepping outside off stump to ramp the pace bowlers over his shoulder, banking a six and a four with the pre-meditated stroke before chipping his third attempt to the wicketkeeper.
“When you play like that for a period you can’t really kick yourself but I’ve obviously missed out on a Test hundred there,” he admitted.
“It might be a learning day for me but it’s a shot I’ve been thinking of playing in Test cricket for a long time. It felt like the right option.
“In a way I’m really happy I got that shot out today, it’s one I play really well in white-ball cricket and it won’t be the last time I play that that shot.”
