ADELAIDE — When England captain Ben Stokes spoke about Australia being no place for “weak men” after his team’s humiliating Ashes defeat in Brisbane, the first person most people thought of was Ollie Pope.
England’s No 3 is in a poor run of form, averaging 27 since his last Test hundred against India at Headingley in July, and his record against Australia is even worse: no half-centuries in 14 innings and an average of 18.71.
There is no suggestion that Stokes was referring to Pope in particular after that Gabba loss. He could have been talking about any number of England’s players in the wake of a result that puts them 2-0 down in the series with three Tests to play.
However, Pope’s place must now be under serious threat.
England are likely to make changes for next week’s third Test in Adelaide, a match they realistically must win to stay in the series, and the No 3 position is surely one of the areas of the team Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum will be seriously looking at.
Who would come in for the 27-year-old is the tricky part. He had looked good at the start of this tour, scoring a century and then 90 in the sole warm-up match against England Lions at Lilac Hill.
Pope spoke about technical tweaks and a hunger to put right his record in Australia, where he averaged just 11.16 on the last Ashes tour in 2021-22.
Ollie Pope is OUT for 26 Watch #TheAshes LIVE on TNT Sports and discovery+ pic.twitter.com/fntkn3qnVU
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) December 6, 2025Even in the opening Test in Perth, where England lost inside two days, he’d looked in decent touch, throwing away starts after reaching 46 and 33 in each innings.
In Brisbane, though, the same old frailties resurfaced, with the Surrey man out for a duck and then surrendering his wicket on 26 with an injudicious shot during England’s second innings.
For a man who was vice-captain up until the end of last summer, it was a disappointing reversion to type.
There are three options, though, when it comes to what England might do with Pope. The simplest would be to stick with him. Secondly, they could replace him with Jacob Bethell – something they should have done before last summer’s series against India.
Thirdly, they could move Pope down the order and give him the wicketkeeping gloves. Jamie Smith, England’s current keeper, is a superb talent. But he has looked overawed in this Ashes series, with his drop of Travis Head during Australia’s first innings in Brisbane setting the tone for a shoddy fielding display in which England let five chances go down. Smith’s output with the bat has also been poor, with just 52 runs at 13 across the first two Tests.
What was Ollie Pope doing playing at that ball? #Ashes pic.twitter.com/5JUliwMs3p
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) January 15, 2022Whatever they decide, England have much to ponder. And if they go for either option two or three, they will need a new No 3.
Bethell, the spare batter in the squad, is the obvious choice. But the 22-year-old has been badly mismanaged since last winter’s tour of New Zealand, where he excelled during his debut series.
His form of late has been patchy, with his second-innings 71 for the Lions against Australia A in Brisbane last week only the second time in 11 innings he has passed fifty.
Exposing Bethell to an Australia attack that will include a fit-again Pat Cummins in Adelaide risks damaging his confidence even further. It would, in my opinion, be a reckless pick.
Bethell has been groomed for the job but is not ready (Photo: Getty)Moving Stokes up to No 3, an age-old debate posited again this week by former England captain Michael Vaughan, is another option. But it seems unlikely given his workload as captain and a bowler.
So what other options are there? Perhaps the best candidate for No 3 is Will Jacks? It would certainly be the most Bazball move.
Jacks impressed when sharing a 96-run stand with Stokes across 36 overs on the final day in Brisbane. He has only faced 27 balls fewer than Pope in this series despite playing just one Test.
He might bat in the middle order for Surrey on the rare occasions he plays in the County Championship.
But his best performance in an England shirt came at No 3 against Australia in an ODI last year at Durham, where Jacks scored 84 against an attack that included Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
He has also batted at three in Test cricket before, during England’s second innings against Pakistan in Multan back in 2022. He only scored four on that occasion. Yet it showed Bazball has not been afraid to thrust Jacks up the order before.
Would it work? Who knows, but he surely can’t do much worse than Pope.
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