LIVE || Ollie Pope on Sri Lanka second test

e e e e e e e e e e for e e e e e e e e for e e e e e e e all uh no not all I think um he's obviously had a tough time and had injuries that unfortunately fast Bowlers can just G especially when they Bowl up to 90 miles an hour um I said just really excited for oy to get the opportunity to pull that shirt back on I know how hard it's worked and I know how hard it is being injured for such a long period of time so kind of gives you a bit of perspective on things and I'm just no excited to be out on the pitch with him and obviously he's an exciting bow you can bowl bowl good pace and with good skills as well we'll see this week um I played recently with him in the 100 uh for London spirit and me Boulder at some really good pace so um yeah fingers crossed he can I mean Woody's Woody's what is he clocking 97 so if he if he does get there then fair play um but I'm sure he'll be pushing pushing the speed uh right up there and creating some good challenges for their batters how you feel uh yeah I think it's obviously different captaining for the first time um it's obviously a fresh start um for for me and it almost it just had the had a slightly different feel when the F it's the first time you do it almost like that kind of Debut feeling again um but at the same time I really enjoyed the week um obviously the runs didn't translate for me but yeah hopefully over the next two weeks I can sort of put aside my my captaining when it's time to bat uh focus on my batting and then score some good runs for the team in yeah I think he's obviously such a highly skilled batter and he obviously feels now now's obviously the right time for him to step away from the international cricket and uh yeah and enjoy some more Cricket I'm sure coming up but no he's he's had a top career obviously and Ash is away from home something very special and to do it in all three formats so there's not there's not many of them who have done that so he's obvious got aot proud of were yeah I think it is different um like I said I really enjoyed last week um obviously the runs didn't come for me but for the team to get the win that's I mean that's the most important think the first time you do anything like that I remember like I said I almost compared it to another debut um I remember after my test debut after day one I was just knacking and we barely we barely did anything I we fielded for a few overs so I think um so it's good to get that first one out the way and get that first win on the board and I think yeah like I said it's just about having the two things separate um I've obviously got got time in the Nets where you can go work on your game but then as soon as you're back in the changing room you can go and go and be the captain and the leader um again there so that's something that I've spoken to someone like Joe root about as well obviously um a very very successful England Captain who obviously did Joe Ro things with the bat throughout um so hopefully yeah like I said over the next couple of weeks um I can go and put some good scores together for the team um but yeah I think the first one was probably a bit of learning for me and to how to manage the two things separately um but it can also be a positive as well I think engaging your brain in while you're in the field and the field placing Anders can also over the course of the next two games potentially be a positive as well so I I don't see it as a as a negative on my batting um obviously it's two weeks two more weeks of it um so it's not like I'm staring down the barrel of some some long fatigue it's something that I've really enjoyed so far so yeah hope yeah I think we obviously made some slight adjustments there's obviously been a couple of injuries as well obviously with Stokes and um Zach up top um and there just unfortunate injuries that that happen um but at the same time it's great opportunity for other guys to come in and and get a go that they deserve and event as well and and I think obviously the with what did um leading into this this summer he made some pretty brutal changes that um that he saw that are going to take the take the team into a better place getting forward and I think we showed last week I know we don't use the term basball but um we we played different style of cricket and I think that's something that can keep taking us forward as a team and when we can be ruthless we've got to we've got to try and be ruthless just to win as as many games as possible and other days we we'll go out and score a little bit more freely and potentially to the wickets um in a shorter amount of time so I think it's a credit to the guys that have come in obviously Jamie Smith as well the way he played in both Innings um is is a CR credit to him and shows that we're really sort of taking this team for yeah absolutely I think we don't take any team lightly um even that West Indies series there were there were days in which where they they had really good days and I guess were neck and neck almost after two days and we managed to play the the slightly better Cricket over the course of the five days in each of the test matches so I think that's good that we're getting pushed and like you said Sri Lanka were impressive last week I think um especially the way they batted um I guess when you come to Eng you expect different conditions and I guess the conditions weren't your classic English style pitches but at the same time to go the guys to go and put together some good scores um and set us a Chase from a 100 deficit is credit to them as well um but I think yeah hopefully we can just keep keep getting better and I'm sure that they'll be they'll be confident and they'll they'll feel strong but if we can play our best Cricket hopefully come out in the right side of the result you mentioned that you really enjoyed getting get stuck in Happ I was just wondering what bits you really enjoying and what bits you maybe not enjoying so much I wouldn't say there's firstly nothing I didn't enjoy about it um it's just different like I said but rather than rather than worrying about your catching and some ideas for Stokes you you've got a lot more to think about so that that's a different side of thing I didn't I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it at all um and I think yeah just the challenge of trying to work with the bowlers to take 20 wickets in the Test match and a pitch that I guess once the ball got over was fairly fairly unresponsive unresponsive off the pitch um so I enjoyed the challenge of that and enjoyed using my Cricket brain to to try and help help the team get those 20 wickets and think credit to the bowlers for for how they bow and stuck to the plans and like I said I've got some good guys to lean on in that in that change room and on the pitch to to help me out when I'm out there um so yeah I'd like obviously some some more runs over the course of the series but yeah hopefully that's that's going to come week next yeah I'm always always keen on sort of standing up and being a leader for for whatever team I do play for um so yeah like I said this is still stokes's team but it's a great experience for me and uh to hopefully do do really well over the course of this series and also learn some lessons and have some time for reflection after so yeah I enjoy being the leader with the changing room and using using my critic brain when I need to as well probably how encouraging has it been to see back in Nets over the P couple of days yeah it's been good um obviously pretty Keen to he I mean he wishes he was out there um but no it's a good sign going forward he's obviously still Fair while away off playing and he's not he's not trying to play as a b in a first just yet anyway so no but it's great to see and injuries are never ideal but they're also great chances for people to um keep improving their game and have a little bit of time of reflection think about what he can work on in his game and I'm sure that's exactly what he's doing in the next going into I guess that Pakistan series New Zealand he's going to be as fresh as anyone see I think Zack was here yesterday as well is it sort of a conscious thing to try and keep guys around the scad things yeah absolutely I guess um it's great it's great to have those guys around obviously Stokes around for the series and see Z yesterday I mean I know he's dted he's he's not here playing in these test matches but for to pop in and and catch up with the guys is great it's good to it kind of shows where we're at as a squad and how're a tightnit unit and we want to keep driving that forward you say um I think we just spoke about how it's how it is more taxing in the field um but it's just finding a little routine and doing small certain things which which not it's nothing massive just finding a way just to I guess once you do get your pads on and sit there Wai for bat is just trying to get into your own routine of of how you do um do go out and bat and people do different things before they bat some watch some don't and those kind of things so it's just it's just making sure that I just keep doing what what has brought success for me over over the last couple of years um and just having out and repeating and it's just you might be a bit fatigued but I think yeah it's just it's only positive as well like I said it's not going to be we got two two more weeks of the series so it's not like I'm said I'm faed about it but it's just yeah just finding a way to compartment try toout obviously got great great cricket yeah yeah I think I think that's probably the important thing and I think you get it as as your career goes on I think is for the test Cricket is what I struggled with early in my career I guess I was I was had a pretty average first probably 20 games and and I probably struggled getting away from the game a little bit too much I was pretty pretty young and and trying to find my way and really had E I was really eager to to be successful and to put winning contributions towards the team so I think that probably got too a little bit too much for me at the time when I was younger so I think now as a test Cricket I've learned and I think in this environment as well it's a lot easier to find ways to switch off and and to freshen up and you might have that slight bit of more fatigue being captain and being Captain the aside but I guess it goes back to those same finding a way to get away from the game and really making the most of your time off because you know once once you're in the mix of it it's going to be it's going to be fairly tiring so yeah it just puts a bit more emphasis on the time where you can actually get away from cricket not even think it for a couple weeks yeah coming are one up in the series so Lord to PR much do good for them that the concern about the so do you have any uh new plans against them all to the same Basics that you have on the uh yeah no I wouldn't say there's any specific plans at somewhere where we've played a fair bit of cricket and had some decent success over the last uh over the last couple of years um but I don't think the venue necessarily makes too much of a difference for us um we just try and try and play our play our best cricket and go out try and take 20 wickets and get as many runs try and keep it as simple as simple as we can over over the week that's coming up so we can play our best Cricket like I said hopefully come outside the right side