England vice-captain Ollie Pope has been ruled out for the rest of the summer with a dislocated shoulder in another blow to his side’s Ashes hopes.
Pope suffered the injury while fielding early in the second Test at Lord’s, and later aggravated the problem after a miscommunication with match officials led England to believe they were not permitted to use a substitute fielder in the second innings.
Scans on Monday revealed that he would require surgery and he will now be out for the remainder of the 2023 campaign.
A statement from the ECB read: “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 had been expected to draft in Dan Lawrence, the spare batter in their 15-man squad, for Thursday’s third Test at Headingley.
Lawrence won the last of his 11 Test caps last March and has not played since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took charge of the side. England have decided not to call up any additional batting cover.
However, later on Tuesday reports emerged suggesting Harry Brook could be promoted up the order to come in at number three, while spinner Moeen Ali is expected to return from injury, which could see Lawrence miss out on the side again.
As well as Moeen’s recovery, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are reported to be set to replace for James Anderson and Josh Tongue in the bowling attack.
Former captain Joe Root admitted the 25-year-old’s misfortune represented “a big blow” to England as they attempt to turn around a 2-0 deficit in the series.
Root said: “It’s a big blow. Ollie has been phenomenal for us over the last 18 months. He’s stepped up as vice-captain of this team and the more responsibility we’ve given to him, the more we’ve got out of him as a player.
“He’ll be a big miss for us, he’s a hell of a player. Ben gains a huge amount from having him as vice-captain, as do other players, so of course he’s a big loss. He’s an integral part of the team.”
Pope made 42 and three at Lord’s despite the injury, batting in his regular spot at three and earning praise from head coach McCullum.
“I was so proud of Ollie, to do what he did,” McCullum said afterwards. “He’s a tough kid to bat at number three and want to make an impact.
“That 40-odd in the first innings, he was suffering a lot of pain, but he was able to invest in the team and put that to one side and operate.
“He’s obviously our vice-captain as well and a fantastic leader in the group, albeit at a young age.”
Pope’s injury is the latest to befall England with spinner Jack Leach ruled out with a stress fracture of the back before the first Test and Moeen, who came out of retirement to replace him in the squad, having been sidelined at Lord’s by a finger injury sustained at Edgbaston.
In addition, Stokes himself has been nursing a knee problem since the New Zealand series in February.
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