‘I think Popey is a great leader’ - Stuart Broad backs Ollie Pope as England's future Test captain

England pacer Stuart Broad has backed Ollie Pope as the future Test captain of England after he led the side in a two-day warm-up match against New Zealand XI in Hamilton ahead of the two-match Test series against the Kiwis starting February 16. Pope took the charge after regular skipper Ben Stokes opted to sit out of the practice game.

There has been no official deputy of Ben Stokes since he took over the responsibility from Joe Root in April 2022. Stokes has been tremendous winning 9 out of 10 matches after becoming the full-time skipper. He has led the side to series wins against New Zealand, and South Africa, drew the series against India, and recently whitewashed Pakistan in Pakistan. 

"I think Popey is a great leader. He speaks really well in the group, he's got a great cricket mind and there's no doubt you can see him as a future England captain," said Stuart Broad as quoted by Sky Sports.

Pope extolled his red-ball skipper Ben Stokes and mentioned that the latter knows how he wants to run the show. "There's no label on it, but it might be an option they are looking at in the future. It's just good to be seen as a leader in that dressing room,” said Pope. 

"Stokesy is the captain, he knows exactly how he wants to run it, but he comes up and bounces ideas off me sometimes, and he'll do the same with some of the really experienced guys in the changing room too,” he further added.

The 25-year-old also acknowledged Brendon McCullum for his successful run as the head coach along with the skipper Stokes and mentioned that they both allow the youngsters to grow and everyone in the dressing room feels like it's their own team. 

Pope also stated that he is developing his mindset as a leader for the opportunity in the future. "I'm just going to keep developing that cricket brain and if it came about in the future, great, I'll make sure I learn as much as possible before then. At the same time, I realise I've got a big job at number three to keep doing. If I can keep impressing there, who knows what the future holds?," he added.

New Zealand and England are scheduled to play two Test matches in Mount Maunganui and Wellington respectively, which includes a pink-ball day-night Test that will be played between February 16 to February 20 at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.

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